COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES  IN  ENGLISH 


JOHN   DENNIS:    HIS   LIFE  AND 
CRITICISM 


COLUMBIA 

UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

SALES  AGENTS 

NEW  YORK : 

LEMCKE  &  BUECHNER 
30-32  WEST  27TH  STREET 

LONDON  : 

HENRY  FROWDE 
AMEN  CORNER,  E.G. 


JOHN  DENNIS 

HIS   LIFE  AND  CRITICISM 


BY 

H.  G.  PAUL 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 

THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY,  IN  THE  FACULTY 

OF  PHILOSOPHY,  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 
1911 


Copyright,  1911 
BY  THE  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

Printed  from  type  April,  1911 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 
LANCASTER.  PA. 


This  Monograph  has  been  approved  by  the  Department  of  Eng- 
lish in  Columbia  University  as  a  contribution  to  knowledge  worthy 

of  publication. 

A.   H.  THORNDIKE, 

Secretary. 


227366 


PREFACE 

John  Dennis's  career  was  one  of  prolonged  and  various 
activities,  covering  a  period  of  nearly  a  half  century.  He  asso- 
ciated with  some  of  the  wits  of  the  time  of  Charles  II ;  he  was 
on  intimate  terms  with  Dryden ;  he  was  a  notable  figure  in  the 
age  of  the  so-called  Augustans;  and  he  lived  to  be  pitied  and 
befriended  by  Thomson  and  Mallet.  The  study  of  such  a 
career  of  diverse  and  extended  activity  should  be  of  value  in 
promoting  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  literary  relations  of 
that  interesting  age.  One  of  Dennis's  manifold  activities  is 
worthy  of  especial  consideration — namely,  his  labors  as  a 
critic.  For  nearly  two  centuries  he  has  been  remembered 
chiefly  as  the  severe  judge  and  foe  of  some  of  the  great  writers 
of  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  has  been 
cited  as  a  horrible  example  of  the  race  of  critics  by  a  host  of 
biographers  and  admirers  of  Addison  and  Steele,  of  Swift 
and  Pope.  In  the  last  twenty  years,  however,  something  of  a 
reaction  has  begun  in  Dennis's  favor;  and  while  no  one  finds 
in  his  dramas  or  poems  much  that  deserves  immortality,  many 
students  of  his  period  are  coming  to  recognize  in  him  "  a 
serious  and  well  equipped  critic  "  and  one  whose  beliefs  are  of 
especial  interest  as  belonging  to  the  period  when  English  criti- 
cism was  young.  By  many  of  his  contemporaries  Dennis  was 
regarded  as  the  foremost  English  critic  of  his  times,  and  few 
or  none  of  the  writers. of  his  age  can  be  considered  so  fully 
representative  of  the  manifold  critical  tendencies  then  strug- 
gling for  supremacy. 

In  attempting  this  study  of  Dennis  I  have  limited  myself  to 
what  seemed  best  worth  while,  that  is,  to  a  discussion  of  his 
biography  and  of  his  .work  as  a  critic.  In  tracing  the  course 
of  his  life  I  have  been  obliged  in  large  measure  to  break  new 
ground,  for  practically  the  only  study  of  Dennis's  career  is 
the  useful  but  necessarily  brief  article  in  the  Dictionary  of 
National  Biography.  The  life  itself  seems  to  fall  naturally 
into  three  fairly  well  marked  divisions — the  first  to  the  death 

vii 


Vlll' 

J5  ~£j 

f  Dryden  in  1700,  the  second  through  the  first  decade  of  the 
5V- ^7  eighteenth  century,  and  the  last  from  1710  to  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1734,  a  period  characterized  by  his  well  known  liter- 
ary quarrels.     In  dealing  with  Dennis  as  a  judge  of  letters  I 
•/    have  first  outlined  the  chief  critical  tendencies  of  his  time  and 
have  afterwards  attempted  to  indicate  his  relations  with  these 
.   various  schools  as  shown  in  his  attitude  toward  the  great  ques- 
tions then  debated  in  the  republic  of  letters.     I  have  tried  to 
point  out  how  Dennis  anticipated  some  ideas  that  have  gen- 
erally been  credited  to  later  critics,  and  how  his  appreciation  of 
the  great  national  writers  was  truer  and  keener  than  that  of 
most  of  his  contemporaries.     I  have  also  attempted  to  study 
the  question  of  his  influence  upon  subsequent  criticism. 

The  subject  of  this  dissertation  was  suggested  to  the  writer 
by  Professors  W.  P.  Trent  and  A.  H.  Thorndike,  of  Columbia 
University,  who  have  been  unfailing  in  their  helpfulness,  giving 
generously  of  their  time  and  scholarship  and  counsel  through 
all  the  different  stages  of  the  growth  of  the  thesis.  The  writer 
realizes  only  too  keenly  how  inadequate  must  be  any  acknowl- 
edgment of  his  indebtedness  to  both  of  them.  To  Professor 
J.  E.  Spingarn  thanks  are  due  both  for  the  books  he  loaned 
and  for  the  still  more  valuable  assistance  of  his  advice  from 
time  to  time  and  his  suggestions  for  revision.  Professor  C. 
N.  Greenough  of  Harvard  kindly  loaned  some  rare  books  from 
his  private  library ;  and  Mr.  Carl  VanDoren  called  attention  to 
one  of  Dennis's  belated  publications.  Mr.  William  Roberts, 
Dennis's  first  careful  biographer,  has  also  encouraged  the 
writer  and  offered  some  valuable  hints.  Acknowledgment  is 
also  due  many  librarians  both  in  America  and  in  England  who 
have  aided  in  the  search  for  Dennis's  scattered  writings. 


LIFE  OF  DENNIS 


John  Dennis  was  born  in  London  in  I657.1  His  father, 
Francis  Dennis,  was  a  saddler  who  seems  to  have  been  a 
fairly  prosperous  and  influential  citizen  at  a  time  when  the 
London  tradesmen  were  gaining  rapidly  both  in  wealth  and 
power.2  Nothing  further  is  known  of  the  family  except  that 
the  father  died  about  1685,  and  that  Dennis  had  at  least  one 
sister.3  When  he  was  twelve  years  old  he  was  sent  to  the 
grammar  school  at  Harrow,  which  was  then  just  beginning 
to  receive  "  foreigners,"  that  is,  boys  from  other  parishes  who 
paid  for  their  schooling.4  Possibly  Dennis  was  attracted  to 
Harrow  by  the  fact  that  the  school  had  just  come  under  the 
management  of  Dr.  William  Horn,  or  Home,  whom  one  of 
Dennis's  biographers  has  characterized  as  "  pious  and  learned." 
The  new  master  brought  with  him  many  of  the  methods  he 

1  The  first  and  one  of  the  best  biographies  of  Dennis  is  that  by  his  friend 
Charles  Gildon  in  the  Lives  and  Characters  of  the  English  Dramatic  Poets 
—  First  begun  by  Mr.  Langbaine,  improv'd  and  continu'd  down  to  this  time 
by  a  Careful  Hand.  London,  1699.  Dennis  himself  supplied  much  of  the 
material  for  this  sketch  of  his  life. 

3  The  enemies  of  Dennis's  later  years  made  frequent  disparaging  refer- 
ences to  his  father's  occupation.  One  such,  for  example,  is  that  by  the 
anonymous  author  of  the  Critical  Specimen,  1715,  p.  9:  "The  Mirror  of 
Criticism  [Dennis]  being  thus  mounted  [on  his  Pegasus]  without  a  saddle, 
for  he  scorned  to  use  one  of  his  father's  making."  Again,  in  the  preface 
of  an  Author  to  Let,  probably  by  Savage,  which  appeared  during  the  war 
following  the  publication  of  the  Dunciad,  we  find  the  following  :  "  Should 
the  author  of  the  Dunciad  declare  that  the  great  Mr.  Dennis  (the  Son  of 
a  Saddler)  had  better  have  been  a  common  Parish  Crier,  than  a  Poet  or 
Critick  ?  Have  not  forty  Years,  and  upwards,  witness'd  the  Truth  of  this  ?  " 

3  Original  Letters,  Familiar,  Moral  and  Critical  By  Mr.  Dennis.  In  Two 
Volumes  (but  usually  bound  together  and  paged  consecutively).  London, 
1721,  p.  45.  These  letters  form  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  information 
concerning  Dennis's  life  and  opinions.  In  subsequent  notes  they  will  be 
referred  to  as  Original  Letters. 

*  Encyclopedia  Brittanica,  9th  edition,  s.  v.  Harrow. 

2  1 


had  known  at  Eton,5  and  under  his  supervision  Dennis  was 
well  trained  in  the  fundamentals  of  the  classics.  There  is 
little  else  to  record  of  the  lad's  five  years  at  Harrow  except 
that  among  his  mates  was  Lord  Francis  Seymour,  with  whom 
he  was  afterwards  to  visit  the  continent. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  January,  1675,  Dennis  entered  Caius 
College,  Cambridge,  as  a  common  scholar.  The  relations  be- 
tween Cambridge  and  Harrow  were  not  especially  close  at 
this  time,  and  no  reason  can  be  given  for  his  choice  except, 
possibly,  the  reviving  prestige  after  the  Civil  War  of  this 
university  which  was  fairly  in  accord  with  Dennis's  religious 
views.  Dr.  Robert  Brady,  who  as  one  of  the  royal  physicians 
divided  his  time  between  London  and  Cambridge,  was  then 
head  master  of  the  college.  Probably  he  made  little  or  no 
impression  on  Dennis,  who  has  left  no  mention  either  of  him 
or  of  any  of  his  fellow  students  at  Cambridge.  Jeremy  Collier, 
we  may  here  note,  finished  his  seventh  year  of  residence  at 
Caius  and  was  granted  his  M.A.  when  Dennis  was  a  freshman; 
and  in  1679,  the  year  that  our  author  obtained  his  B.A., 
Samuel  Garth  received  the  same  degree  from  Peterhouse.6 
Dennis  must  have  employed  his  days  and  nights  to  better 
advantage  than  did  most  of  his  fellow  undergraduates,  for  he 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  classics  which  in  later  years 
gained  him  a  reputation  for  scholarship.  In  time  he  became 
one  of  the  seventy-five  scholars  in  Caius  and  continued  such 
till  March  4,  1680,  when  the  following  extract,  under  the  title 
"  Sir  Dennis  sent  away,"  appeared  in  the  Cambridge  Gesta 
Book:  "At  a  meeting  of  the  masters  and  fellows,  Sir  Dennis 
mulcted  3  1.,  and  his  scholarship  taken  away,  and  he  sent  out 
of  the  college  for  assaulting  and  wounding  Sir  Glenham7  with 
a  sword."  Dr.  Farmer  asserts8  that  Dennis  stabbed  his  man 

8  Great  Public  Schools,  London,  n.  d.,  the  article  on  Harrow  by  Thornton, 
Butler,  and  Martineau,  p.  66. 

*  It  is  possible  that  during  these  years  Garth  and  Dennis  became  friends. 
Twenty-five  years  later  the  Doctor  exerted  himself  to  secure  subscriptions 
for  his  fellow  Cantabrigian's  Criticism  upon  our  most  Celebrated  English 
Poets  Deceas'd. 

T  Sir  Glenham  was  probably  Charles  Glenham,  B.A.,  Caius,  1678;  M.A., 
1682. 

8  Essay  on  the  Learning  of  Shakespere,  2d  ed.,  London,  1825,  p.  14,  n. 


3 

in  the  dark,  and  that  many  years  afterwards  the  tradition  of 
the  affair  lingered  in  the  college.9  As  it  was  then  no  uncom- 
mon thing  for  a  student  expelled  from  one  college  to  go  over 
to  another,  Dennis  soon  registered  in  Trinity  Hall,  of  which 
Sir  Thomas  Exton  was  the  headmaster.  There  is  little  to 
record  of  these  years  except  that  Dennis  made  occasional  trips 
to  town,  where,  doubtless,  he  saw  many  of  the  contemporary 
plays  in  which  he  was  much  interested.10  Among  the  visitors 
to  Cambridge  in  1680  was  the  Princess  Anne,  to  whom,  as 
Queen,  Dennis  was  afterwards  to  dedicate  his  most  important 
poem.  In  the  following  year  the  King  and  Queen  were 
elaborately  entertained  at  Cambridge,  as  is  shown  by  the 
record  of  the  university  expenses  at  that  time.11  We  do  not 
know  how  far,  if  at  all,  Dennis  improved  this  opportunity  to 
exhibit  his  loyalty,12  but  we  do  know  that  he  took  advantage 
of  another  occasion  that  same  year,  for  he  then  composed  his 
earliest  extant  poem,  Upon  the  Fleet  then  fitting  out.  Written 
in  1682.  The  following  year  he  received  his  M.A.  from 

9  In  answer  to  the  doubts  expressed  by  Kippis,  who  wrote  the  account  of 
Dennis   for  the   second   edition   of  the  Biographia  Brittanica,   Dr.   Farmer 
says :    "  I  might  plead  in  the  first  place  that  if  it  were  not  true,  I  gave  it 
only  as  I  received  it  from  the  late  Master  of  the  college,  Sir  John  Bur- 
rough,  to  whose  accuracy  in  a  thousand  anecdotes,  every  one  who  knows 
him  will  be  a  willing  witness ;  and  I  add  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Smith,  the 
present  Master,  who  declared  it  to  be  a  well-remembered  tradition,  when 
he  first  knew  the  college  fifty  years  ago."     First  quoted  by  Dr.  Farmer  in 
the  European  Magazine,  XXV   (1794),  412.     Cf.  the  article  on  Dennis  in 
the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

10  Nearly  forty  years  later  Dennis   commented  on  the  manner  in  which 
the  fight  waged  over  Settle's  Emperess  of  Morocco  extended  to  the  univer- 
sity, and  how  the  "  young  Fry  inclin'd  to  Elkanah."     Preface  to  the  Re- 
marks upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer,  1717. 

11  C.  H.  Cooper's  Cambridge  Annals,  Cambridge,  1845,  III,  589  ff. 

13  "The  1 8th,  [October,  1681]  an  indictment  of  high  treason  was  pre- 
ferred at  the  Old  Baily  against  Mr.  John  Rouse :  there  were  eight  witnesses, 
viz.,  Mr.  Wyatt  .  .  .  and  Mr.  Dennis,  who  all  charged  him  with  treasonable 
expressions ; "  Luttrell,  Brief  historical  Relation  of  State  Affairs  from 
September  i6?8-April  1714,  Oxford,  1857,  I,  137.  Whether  the  Mr.  Dennis 
here  mentioned  was  John  Dennis  cannot  be  determined.  The  Cambridge 
student  was  then  twenty-four,  and  he  may  have  been  at  home  for  a  brief 
time. 


Trinity  Hall.13  Soon  after  leaving  Cambridge  Dennis  inherited 
property  from  his  father  and  from  an  uncle,  "  who  was,"  says 
one  of  the  critic's  biographers,14  "  if  not  an  alderman,  a  wealthy 
citizen  of  London." 

On  coming  into  this  inheritance,  Dennis  proceeded  with  his 
Harrow  schoolmate,  Lord  Francis  Seymour,  upon  a  tour  of 
France  and  Italy.  Voltaire  states15  that  Dennis  spent  only 
fifteen  days16  in  France  and  ridicules  as  hasty  and  ill  grounded 
his  opinion  that  the  people  of  that  country  are  civil  to 
strangers  "not  as  they  imagine  it  a  duty  but  an  accomplish- 
ment." Voltaire  was  doubtless  wrong  in  his  statement  regard- 
ing the  length  of  Dennis's  stay  in  France,  but  right  in  his 
censures  of  that  traveller's  general  attitude  toward  the  French. 
Led  by  his  stout  English  prejudice,  which  seems  to  have  been 
intensified  by  his  travels,168-  Dennis  saw  in  every  Frenchman  a 
"  Narcissus,"  who  "  in  the  flattering  glass  of  his  own  false 
imagination  is  eternally  gazing  on  himself,  or  at  least  what  he 
takes  for  himself."  In  fact  he  seems  to  have  found  but  little 
in  France  that  pleased  him;  he  showed  but  slight  enthusiasm 
for  the  art  treasures  of  the  capital;  and  he  considered  the 
Parisian  theaters  very  unsatisfactory17  as  compared  with  those 

18  Trinity  Hall  in  Cambridge  University  College  Series,  London,  1902, 
p.  167. 

14  The  Life  of  Mr.  John  Dennis,  the  Renowned  Critick.     In  which  are 
likewise  Some  Observations  on  most  of  the  Poets  and  Criticks,  his  Con- 
temporaries, Anon.,  London,  1734,  p.  7. 

15  Oeuvres,  avec  Prefaces,  Avertissements,  Notes,  etc.     Par  M.  Benchot, 
Paris,  1829,  XXXVII,  22. 

16  How  long  Dennis  really  was  in  France  is  not  known.     After  he  had 
been  in  Italy  five  or  six  weeks,  however,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  that  he  had 
spent  a   longer   time   in  France.     See  p.    141    of   Dennis's  Miscellanies  in 
Verse  and  Prose,  1693,  a  volume  from  which  is  derived  most  of  our  infor- 
mation regarding  this  tour.    Against  Voltaire's  statement  may  also  be  cited 
a  passage  in  the  Epistle  Dedicatory  of  Dennis's  Advancement  and  Reforma- 
tion of  Modern  Poetry,   1701:    "I   know  by  experience  that  a  man   may 
travel   o'er  most   of  the  western  parts   of   Europe,   without   meeting  three 
Foreigners,  who  have  any  tolerable  knowledge  of  it  [the  English  language]." 

iea  « ^d  jt  js  amusing  to  fin(j  Addison  .  .  .  making  his  Tory  f  oxhunter 
declare  this  anti-Gallican  temper  the  main  fruit  of  foreign  travel."  Cour- 
thope's  Addison,  in  the  English  Men  of  Letters  Series,  p.  39. 

11  In  the  preface  to  his  drama  Iphigenia  Dennis  mentioned  with  a  touch 
of  pride  the  hum  of  admiration  which  went  round  the  audience  at  the 


of  London.  His  dislike  for  Paris  was,  in  all  probabality,  in- 
tensified by  the  ill  health  he  suffered  there,  so  we  are  not  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  he  was  glad  to  leave  that  city  and  to 
proceed  to  Marseilles.  Of  his  stay  in  this  latter  city  he  has 
left  no  record  beyond  a  chance  allusion18  to  his  astonishment 
at  the  sight  of  priests  there  serving  sentence  in  the  galleys. 
From  Marseilles  he  took  the  customary  route  of  travel  of  his 
day  back  to  Lyons,  whence  on  the  nineteenth  of  October,  1688, 
he  began  the  journey  across  the  Alps  to  Italy.  Six  days  later 
he  was  in  Turin.  In  striking  contrast  with  Addison  who  later 
took  the  same  trip,  Dennis  enjoyed  keenly  the  passage  of  the 
mountains.  Throughout  his  life  he  showed  a  delight  in  the 
wilder  aspects  of  nature,  but  the  mountains  filled  him,  he 
says,19  "with  a  delightful  Horrour,  a  terrible  Joy." 

"  At  the  same  time,"  he  continued,  "  I  had  an  infinite  Pleasure,  I 
trembled ;  "  adding,  "  I  am  delighted,  'tis  true,  at  the  prospect  of  Hills  and 
Valleys,  of  flowry  Meads,  and  murmuring  Streams,  yet  it  is  a  delight  that 
is  consistent  with  Reason,  a  delight  that  creates  and  improves  Meditation. 
But  transporting  Pleasures  followed  the  sight  of  the  Alps,  and  what  unusual 
Transports  think  you  are  those,  that  are  mingled  with  Horrours,  and  some- 
times almost  with  Dispair  ?  " 

From  Turin  he  made  his  way  to  Rome,  though  by  what 
route  he  nowhere  definitely  states.  One  sentence  in  a  letter 
written  many  years  later,  however,  offers  a  hint  as  to  his 

discovery  of  the  identity  of  the  heroine.  The  author  of  a  Comparison  Be- 
tween the  Two  Stages,  1702,  p.  38,  sarcastically  refers  thus  to  Dennis's 
comment :  "  Surprise  and  Astonishment !  Nay,  such  a  thing  had  never 
happened  since  Thespis  rode  in  a  Cart,  unless  at  one  of  Corneille's,  who  by 
the  way  was  one  of  his  most  intimate  Acquaintance ;  for,  continues  he 
[Dennis],  I  had  one  day  the  honor  to  sit  by  that  same  Author  at  a  Tragedy 
of  his  in  Paris,  and  by  and  by  comes  such  a  turn  that  the  People  murmur'd 
again,  they  were  so  surprised."  But  Pierre  Corneille  died  in  1684,  so  that 
we  must  consider  the  above  either  a  piece  of  banter  or,  less  probably,  a 
reference  to  the  great  dramatist's  brother,  Thomas. 

"Dennis's  Usefulness  of  the  Stage  to  the  Happiness  of  Mankind,  1698, 
reprinted  in  his  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  1725,  p.  402. 

19  Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose,  1693,  p.  134.  This  same  sort  of 
rapture,  tinged  with  a  customary  patriotic  prejudice,  is  exhibited  in  a  letter 
to  Thomas  Sargent,  written  nearly  thirty  years  afterwards :  "  In  a  late 
Journey  which  I  took  into  the  Wild  of  Sussex,  I  pass'd  over  a  Hill  which 
shew'd  me  a  more  transporting  sight  than  ever  the  Country  had  shewn 
me  before  either  in  England  or  in  Italy."  Original  Letters,  p.  31. 


6 

course  and  also  affords  further  illustration  of  his  love  of 
"  transporting  Sights :  "20 

"  The  Prospects,  which  in  Italy  pleas'd  me  most,  were  that  of  Valdarno 
from  the  Apennins,  that  of  Rome  and  the  Mediterranean,  from  the  moun- 
tain of  Viterbo ;  of  Rome  at  Forty,  and  of  the  Mediterranean  at  Fifty 
Miles  distance  from  it,  and  that  of  the  Campagne  of  Rome,  from  Tiuoli 
and  Frescati;  from  which  two  Places,  you  see  every  FOOT  of  the  famous 
Campagne,  even  from  the  Bottom  of  Tiuoli  and  Frescati,  to  the  very  Foot 
of  the  Mountain  of  Viterbo  without  any  thing  to  intercept  your  Sight." 

In  Rome,  he  tells  us,21  he  was  astonished  by  the  statue  of 
Laocoon,  "  which  does  not  appear  to  be  a  work  of  art,  but  the 
miserable  creature  himself."  As  for  the  Italians  themselves, 
he  found  them  as  reserved  to  strangers  as  the  French  had 
been  open.  He  was,  indeed,  deeply  interested  in  studying 
these  people  and  concluded  that  they  had  degenerated  through 
the  sins  of  their  ancestors.  How  long  he  remained  in  Italy, 
or  when  or  how  he  journeyed  back  to  England,  cannot,  it 
seems,  be  determined. 

On  his  return  to  England,21*  about  the  time  of  the  deposition 
of  James,  Dennis  declared  for  the  new  government  and  began 
to  mingle  with  the  wits  and  men  of  letters  of  the  town.22  The 
accession  of  William  had  deprived  Dryden  of  his  position  as 
poet  laureate  and  royal  historiographer,  but  it  could  not  take 

20  Original  Letters,  p.  31. 

21  See  his  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  1701,  p.  31. 
21a  "...  it  is  plain  that  to  a  considerable  detriment  to  my  little  affairs, 

I  declar'd  for  the  Government  at  a  time  when  I  had  no  Encouragement, 
nor  any  Prospect  of  receiving  the  least  Return ;  "  Preface  to  the  Remarks 
on  Prince  Arthur,  1696. 

22  The  Critical  Specimen,  Anon.,  1715,  p.  n,  proposed  a  number  of  titles 
for  chapters  of  Dennis's  life,  of  which  one  reads  thus :  "  Chapter  III.    How 
after   leaving   College   he   generously    despised   the   Narrow   Souled   Prin- 
ciples, taught  there,  and  fell  in  with  the  Modern  free  and  daring  Principles 
of  the  Town,  as  favouring  much  more  of  Publick  Spirit,  together  with  his 
Private  Reasons  for  doing  so."     It  is  interesting  also  to  note  that  at  this 
time  Dennis  lived  on  friendly  terms  with  men  as  different  as  the  profligate 
rascal,  Fleetwood  Shepherd  and  the  future  Bishop  of  Rochester,  Dr.  Atter- 
bury.     We  learn  from  Atterbury's   Correspondence,   1783,   I,   262,  n.,   that 
"  The  Bishop  and  Mr.  Dennis  were  very  intimate  at  their  first  setting  out  in 
the  world  (especially  when  his  Lordship  was  at  the  Rolls)."     May  not  the 
two  also  have  been  joined  more  closely  by  their  common  admiration  of 
Milton  ? 


from  him  the  literary  dictatorship  of  England.  Ever?Dorset, 
who  was  forced  to  remove  him  from  office,  had  shown  his 
esteem  for  the  poet  by  a  liberal  present  from  his  own  private 
purse;  and  his  example  had  been  followed  by  others,  such  as 
Dryden's  old  friend  Mulgrave.  At  Will's  coffee-house  the 
aging  poet  regained  and  held  his  old  time  power  so  success- 
fully that  "a  pinch  from  Dryden's  snuff  box  was  equal  to 
taking  a  degree  in  the  academy  of  wit."23  Further  evidence 
of  Dryden's  popularity  is  afforded  us  by  such  comments  as  that 
by  Shaftsbury,  in  his  Characteristics,2*  upon  the  "  young  fry  " 
that  surrounded  the  old  dictator  as  admirers,  champions,  and 
imitators.  Among  these  young  men  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent was  Dennis,  who  "made  court"  to  his  fellow  Canta- 
brigian, addressed  the  old  poet  as  a  close  friend,  gained  many 
critical  ideas  from  him,  and  warmly  championed  his  fame  in 
the  following  century  against  the  growing  reputation  of  Pope.25 
Dennis  confessed  that,  although  he  usually  found  his  letters 
to  his  friends  a  light  task,26  in  writing  to  Dryden  he  missed 

23  Dryden's  Works  (Scott  and  Saintsbury),  Edinburgh,  1882,  I,  311.  Un- 
less otherwise  stated,  all  references  to  Dryden's  works  will  be  to  this 
edition. 

24 "  They  are  his  guards  ready  to  take  arms  for  him,  if  by  some  presump- 
tuous Critic  he  is  at  any  time  attacked.  They  are  indeed  the  very  shadows 
of  their  immediate  predecessor,  and  represent  the  same  features,  with 
some  alterations  perhaps  for  the  worse.  They  are  sure  to  aim  at  nothing 
beyond  or  above  their  Master,  and  would  on  no  account  give  him  the  least 
jealousy  of  their  aspiring  to  any  degree  or  order  of  writing  above  him. 
From  hence  the  harmonious  and  reciprocal  esteem,  which  on  such  a  bottom 
as  this,  cannot  fail  of  being  perfectly  established  among  our  poets."  Miscel- 
laneous Reflections,  London,  1900,  II,  327. 

25 "  How  many  were  there  in  Mr.  Dryden's  Life-time,  who  endeavour'd 
to  make  him  believe,  that  I  should  be  the  foremost,  if  I  surviv'd  him,  of 
all  his  Acquaintance  to  arraign  his  Memory;  whereas  I  am  he  of  all  his 
Acquaintances,  who,  tho'  I  flatter'd  him  least  while  living,  thaving  been 
content  to  do  him  justice  behind  his  back  and  before  his  Enemies  Face, 
am  now  the  foremost  to  assert  his  Merit  and  vindicate  his  Glory."  Original 
Letters,  p.  291. 

28 "  Tho'  no  Man  writes  to  his  Friends  with  greater  Ease,  or  with  more 
Chearfulness,  than  Myself ;  and  tho'  I  have  lately  had  the  Presumption 
to  place  you  at  the  head  of  that  small  Party,  nevertheless  I  have  experienc'd 
with  Grief,  that  in  writing  to  you  I  have  not  my  old  Facility.  .  .  .  My 
extraordinary  Inclination  to  shew  that  I  honour  you  at  an  extraordinary 


8 

his  customary  ease  through  his  great  desire  to  do  well. 
Dryden,  in  his  turn,  esteemed  Dennis  highly27  and  declared 
him  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  the  Pindaric  ode28 
and  a  better  critic  than  Perrault.  His  regard  for  Dennis  is 
further  shown  by  the  singularly  interesting  correspondence 
that  passed  between  them  and  by  his  contribution  of  a  trans- 
lation of  one  of  Voiture's  letters  to  the  selections  from  that 
author  with  which  Dennis  concluded  his  Letters  upon  Several 
Occasions,  1696.  We  are  not  surprised,  therefore,  to  find 
Dennis  appearing  as  Dryden's  champion  in  the  literary 
quarrels  of  the  time,  and  we  may  regard  it  as  at  least  curious 
that  practically  all  of  our  author's  critical  writings  before 
1700  were  directed  against  those  who  had  opposed  his  master. 
Dennis  first  took  arms  against  Rymer,  who  had  supplanted 
Dryden  as  royal  historiographer,29  and  whom  Dryden  had 

rate,  and  to  shew  it  in  words  that  might  not  be  altogether  unworthy  Mr. 
Dryden's  Perusal,  incapacitates  me  to  perform  the  very  Action  to  which  it 
incites  me."  Dennis's  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  1696,  p.  46. 

27  Dryden's  intimacy  with  Dennis  is  also  shown  by  the  old  poet's  habit 
of  relating  to  his  admirer  literary  anecdotes  and  reminiscences,  of  which 
the  following  may  serve  as  illustrations:  "The  only  play  that  ever  Mr. 
Cowley  wrote  was  barbarously  treated  the  first  night,  as  the  late  Mr. 
Dryden  has  more  than  once  informed  me,  who  has  told  me  that  he  went 
to  see  it  with  the  famous  Mr.  Sprat,  now  Bishop  of  Rochester,  and  that 
after  the  play  was  done,  they  both  made  a  visit  to  Mr.  Cowley,  whom  the 
death  of  his  Brother  had  obliged  to  keep  to  the  House,  and  that  Mr.  Cowley 
received  the  news  of  his  ill-success  with  not  so  much  firmness  as  might 
be  expected  of  so  great  a  man."  Dennis's  Large  Account  of  the  Taste  in 
Poetry,  prefatory  to  the  Comical  Gallant,  1702.  One  other  illustration — 
"And  yet  Mr.  Dryden  at  that  time  knew  not  half  the  extent  of  his  [Mil- 
ton's] Excellence,  as  more  than  Twenty  Years  afterwards  he  confess'd  to 
me,  and  it  is  pretty  plain  from  his  writing  the  State  of  Innocence."  Orig- 
inal Letters,  p.  75. 

28 "There  is  another  part  of  Poetry  in  which  the  English  stand  almost 
upon  an  equal  foot  with  the  Ancients ;  and  'tis  that  which  we  call  the 
Pindarick,  introduc'd,  but  not  perfected  by  our  famous  Mr.  Cowley:  and  of 
this,  Sir,  you  are  certainly  one  of  the  greatest  Masters.  You  have  the 
Sublimity  of  Sense  as  well  as  of  Sound ;  and  know  how  far  the  Boldness 
of  a  Poet  may  lawfully  extend.  I  could  wish  you  would  cultivate  that 
kind  of  Ode,  and  reduce  it  either  to  the  same  Measures  which  Pindar 
us'd,  or  give  new  Measures  of  your  own."  Dennis's  Works,  II,  504. 

"  For  an  account  of  the  relations  between  Dryden  and  Rymer,  see  Dry- 
den's Works,  I,  317.  Cf.  Spingarn's  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century,  II,  342. 


9 

attacked  both  in  the  preface  to  his  translation  of  Ovid  and, 
with  greater  bitterness,  in  his  Preface  to  the  Third  Miscel- 
lany.30 Dryden  also  prepared  the  "  Heads  "  of  an  answer  to 
Rymer's  Short  View  of  Tragedy;  but  he  never  published  this 
reply,  possibly  because  so  many  of  his  views  were  expressed  by 
Dennis  in  the  Impartial  Critick,  1693.  At  any  rate,  the  re- 
semblance between  this  book  and  Dryden's  notes  is  quite  suffi- 
cient to  justify  Mr.  Saintsbury's  query31  whether  Dennis  had 
not  been  permitted  to  see  the  "Heads."  Again,  Dryden  had 
proposed  to  criticize  Blackmore's  Prince  Arthur,  since  the 
preface  to  that  epic  contained  "  some  personal  reflections  aimed 
at  him  directly."32  Indeed  as  he  afterwards  stated  in  the 
preface  to  the  Fables,  Dryden  felt  that  Blackmore  had  taken 
the  hint  for  Prince  Arthur  from  his  preface  to  the  translation 
of  Juvenal;  and  he  went  on  to  complain  that,  instead  of 
acknowledging  an  obvious  indebtedness,  the  poetaster  had 
rather  traduced  him  in  a  libel.33  It  seems  not  improbable, 
therefore,  that  Dennis  may  have  received  encouragement  from 
Dryden  to  criticize  Blackmore's  popular  epic.  Dennis  also 
replied  in  1698  to  Collier's  Short  View  of  the  Immorality 
and  Profaneness  of  the  English  Stage,  in  which  Dryden's  plays 
had  been  censured.  He  further  showed  his  admiration  for 
his  master  by  writing  To  Mr.  Dryden  upon  his  Translation  of 
the  Third  Book  of  Virgil's  Georgics.  Pindarick  Ode.3*  This 
poem,  which  was  one  of  the  most  popular  of  Dennis's  poetical 
productions,  was  published  in  Tonson's  Miscellanies  and  was 
afterwards  incorporated  in  our  author's  Works. 

It  was,  however,  no  blind  admiration  that  Dennis  bestowed 
upon  the  older  poet  and  critic.  He  recognized,  for  example, 
Dryden's  failure  to  appreciate  Milton35  and  took  him  to  task 
for  censuring  Wycherley's  portrayal  of  characters  in  the  Plain 

80  Ibid.,  XV,  53. 

81  History  of  Criticism,  II,  129. 

82  Dryden's  Works,  I,  351. 

88  Dryden  probably  never  forgave  Blackmore's  attacks,  for  lie  afterwards 
pilloried  the  physician  in  the  poem  To  My  Honoured  Kinsman,  John  Dry- 
den, in  the  preface  to  the  Fables,  and  in  the  prologue  for  the  Pilgrim. 

34 "  Addison  paid  an  early  tribute  to  Dryden's  fame  by  the  verses  ad- 
dressed to  him  on  his  translations."  Dryden's  Works,  I,  312. 

35  Original  Letters,  p.  75. 


10 

Dealer™  Furthermore,  he  has  left  us,  as  Lowell  has  justly 
observed,  a  most  discriminating  characterization37  of  his 
master  as  "my  departed  Friend,  whom  I  infinitely  esteem'd 
when  living  for  the  Solidity  of  his  Thought,  for  the  Spring, 
the  Warmth,  and  the  beautiful  Turn  of  it;  for  the  Power  and 
Variety,  and  Fullness  of  his  Harmony;  for  the  Purity,  the 
Perspecuity,  the  Energy  of  his  Expression:  and  (whenever  the 
following  great  Qualities  were  requir'd)  for  the  Pomp, 
Solemnity,  and  Majesty  of  his  Style." 

Next  in  authority  to  Dryden  in  the  circle  at  Will's  coffee 
house  was  Congreve.  The  relations  between  these  two  writers 
had  been  close  and  friendly  from  the  time  of  their  introduction 
to  each  other,  when  Dryden  had  read  the  Old  Bachelor  and 
had  pronounced  it  "the  best  first  play"  he  had  ever  seen. 
Dennis,  too,  held  a  high  opinion  of  Congreve's  ability  and 
regarded  him  as  the  greatest  living  writer  of  comedy,  "  except- 
ing only  Mr.  Wycherley."38  Pope,  however,  sneered39  at 
Dennis  as  intruding  upon  Congreve  and  Wycherley,  "  obtaining 
some  correspondence  with  them,"  and  "immediately  obliging 
the  world  with  their  letters."  That  Dennis  was  proud  of  his 
literary  associations  is  undoubtedly  true,  but  the  tone  of  the 
letters  and  other  evidences  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  show 
that  he  was  not  regarded  as  an  intruder.  Otherwise  Con- 
greve would  hardly  have  written  him  the  long  and  painstaking 
letter  on  the  nature  of  humor,40  a  subject  which  the  author 
believed  had  never  been  treated  before;  and  his  request  that 
Dennis  would  set  him  right,  if  he  should  be  in  the  wrong, 
seems  more  than  a  perfunctory  compliment.  About  this  time, 
too,  Dennis  probably  published  his  Letters  on  Milton  and 
Congreve,  which  have  since  been  lost.41  Through  the  early 

88  Proposals  for  Printing  by  subscription  .  .  .  Miscellaneous  Tracts  writ- 
ten by  Mr.  John  Dennis,  1721. 

87  Original  Letters,  p.  291.    Quoted  by  Lowell  in  his  essay  on  Dryden. 

88  Dennis's  Works,  I,  526. 

89  Pope's    Works    (Elwin    and   Courthope),    1871-1889,    IV,    109.     Unless 
otherwise  specified,  all  references  to  Pope's  writings  will  be  to  this  edition. 

40 Letters  upon  Several  Occasions:  Written  by  and  between  Mr.  Dryden, 
Mr.  Wycherley,  Mr.  .  .  .  ,  Mr.  Congreve,  and  Mr.  Dennis.  With  a  New 
Translation  of  Select  Letters  of  Monsieur  Voiture.  London,  1696,  pp.  80  ff. 

41  Infra,  p.  28. 


11 

years  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  two  remained  on  terms  of 
at  least  nominal  friendship.42  Later,  when  Steele  accused 
Dennis  of  having  abused  Congreve,  the  critic  retorted  thus:43 
"As  for  my  having  been  severe  with  Mr.  Congreve,  it  is  a 
figure  of  speech,  which  Jeremy  says,  in  Love  for  Love,  inter- 
lards the  greater  part  of  his  conversation."  Charles  Wilson, 
Congreve's  biographer,  asserts44  that  in  their  later  life  "  Con- 
greve was  continually  bestowing  upon  Dennis  pecuniary 
favours ; "  and  that  he  had  often  heard  Congreve  "  say  of  the 
two  evils,  it  was  better  to  have  Dennis's  Flattery  than  his 
Gall."  In  some  other  matters  Wilson  is  not  a  perfectly  im- 
partial judge  of  Dennis,  so  we  may  discount  his  statement 
somewhat,  while  admitting  that  as  it  concerns  the  author's  old 
age,  it  may  be  true.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  in  1721  Dennis  addressed  to  Congreve  his 
letter  In  Defence  of  Mr.  Wycherley's  Characters  in  the  Plain- 
dealer,  in  which  he  praised  Congreve  as  "  a  better  Judge  than  " 
himself  and  declared  that  in  defending  the  author  of  the 
Plain-dealer  he  was  also  defending  the  author  of  the  Double- 
dealer.  Last  of  all  it  is  to  be  noted  in  tracing  the  relations  of 
these  two  authors  that  Congreve  probably  received  this  letter 
favorably,  for.  his  name  is  found  among  the  subscribers  for 
Dennis's  Miscellaneous  Tracts  in  which  was  printed  the  letter 
just  mentioned.  As  this  volume  was  not  published  till  1727, 
Congreve's  name  appeared  in  this  list  of  subscribers  just  two 
years  before  his  death. 

Once  as  a  student  coming  up  to  town,  so  Dennis  states  in  a 
letter  to  Richardson  Pack,45  he  drank  the  health  of  Mr. 

42  Later,  though  they  saw  less  of  each  other,  Congreve  is  said  to  have 
acted  as  a  peace  maker  between  Dennis  and  Addison  and  to  have  induced 
the  latter  to  subscribe  for  the  former's  Works.  See  Memoir  of  the  Life, 
Writings,  and  Amours  of  William  Congreve,  by  Charles  Wilson,  London, 
1730,  II,  135.  Leigh  Hunt  in  his  Biographical  .  .  .  Notices  of  .  .  .  Con- 
greve  attributes  this  book  to  John  Oldmixon. 

48  J.  Nichols,  The  Theatre,  By  Sir  Richard  Steele,  with  the  Anti-Theatre, 
&.  London,  1791,  II,  432.  In  subsequent  references  this  will  be  men- 
tioned as  the  Theatre. 

^Memoir  .  .  .  of  Congreve,  II,  135. 

45  Dennis's  Original  Letters,  p.  214.  Also  in  Pack's  New  Collection  of 
Miscellanies  in  Prose  and  Verse,  London,  1725. 


12 

Wycherley,  under  the  title  of  Captain  Wycherley ;  and  he  goes 
on  to  relate  a  number  of  incidents  which  show  an  unusually 
intimate  knowledge  of  this  man  whom  Dryden  was  proud  to 
call  his  friend.46  As  has  been  stated  above,  Dennis  con- 
sidered Wycherley  the  greatest  contemporary  writer  of  comedy, 
and  he  did  not  hesitate  frequently  to  reaffirm  this  belief. 
Wycherley,  in  his  turn,  wrote  Dennis  occasional  letters  and 
declared  that  he  valued  his  friendship  more  than  he  should  a 
title.47  Many  years  later  Pope  included  in  his  published  cor- 
respondence48 a  letter  purporting  to  be  from  Wycherley,  in 
which  the  latter  threatened  "to  print  your  letters  as  Dennis 
did  mine,  without  your  knowledge."  Possibly  this  letter  is 
authentic;  but  knowing  Pope's  habits  of  doctoring  his  cor- 
respondence, we  may  well  regard  it  with  suspicion  along  with 
the  laudatory  verses  which  Dennis  said49  Pope  wrote  and 
published  in  Wycherley's  name,  thus  securing  for  himself  some 
commendation  and  for  Wycherley  the  blame  of  the  bad  verse- 
making.  Furthermore,  Dennis  states  in  the  very  beginning  of 
the  dedication  to  Lord  Halifax  of  his  volume  containing  the 
Wycherley  letters,50  "As  soon  as  I  had  resolv'd  to  make  this 
Address  to  you,  that  the  Present  might  not  be  altogether  un- 
worthy of  you,  I  took  care  to  obtain  the  Consent  of  my 
Friends  to  publish  some  Letters,  which  they  had  writ  in  answer 
to  mine."  Six  years  after  Wycherley's  death  Dennis  pub- 
lished in  his  Proposals  for  printing  his  Miscellaneous  Tracts, 
1721,  the  letter  to  Congreve  in  Defence  of  Mr.  Wycherley's 
Characters  in  the  Plain-dealer,  which  we  noticed  in  the  preced- 
ing paragraph.  The  critic  here  defends  this  comedy  against 
the  charge  that  its  wit  is  forced  and  not  fitted  to  the  characters, 
though  he  acknowledges  that  in  some  other  respects  the  comedy 
is  not  faultless.  Incidentally,  it  may  be  added,  Dennis  here 
contributes  a  few  incidents  to  Wycherley's  biography,  stating, 

46  Preface  to  the  State  of  Innocence. 

"  Dennis's  Works,  II,  494.  Their  correspondence  touches  a  variety  of 
themes,  ranging  from  Wycherley's  good-natured  raillery  at  Dennis's  pet 
aversion  to  puns  and  punning  to  his  serious  advice  about  the  latter's  love 
affairs. 

48  Works,  VI,  41. 

49  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Dunciad,  1729,  p.  6. 
60  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  1696. 


13 

for  example,  that  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  once  "lent  him 
500  1.  upon  his  own  single  bond,  in  his  father's  life  time." 

Dennis's  friendship  with  another  member  of  the  Dryden 
group,  Charles  Gildon,  has  been  recorded  in  the  Dunciad.51 
In  1694  Gildon  issued  his  Letters  and  Essays  on  Several 
Subjects:  To  Dryden  .  .  .  Dennis  and  other  Ingenious  men 
of  the  Day,  addressing  to  Dennis  what  is  probably  the  most 
important  essay  of  the  volume,  his  Vindication  of  Love  in 
Tragedies  against  Rapin  and  Mr.  Rymer.  To  him  we  are  also 
indebted  for  the  first  biography  of  Dennis,  since  he  edited 
and  enlarged  the  1699  edition  of  Langbaine,  giving  what  is 
probably  an  accurate,  though  a  meager,  account  of  the  first 
forty  years  of  the  critic's  life.  Gildon  is  also  generally  re- 
garded as  the  author  of  a  Comparison  Between  the  Two 
Stages,  1702,  which  contains  some  tart  criticism  of  Dennis's 
plays.  The  keenness  of  the  writer,  his  sharp  and  ready 
tongue,  together  with  the  disagreement  between  the  critical 
dicta  there  expressed  and  those  usually  entertained  by  Gildon, 
seem,  to  the  present  writer  at  least,  to  make  doubtful  his 
authorship  of  the  book. 

Among  the  other  literary  friends  of  the  critic  who  may  be 
,j  mentioned  briefly,  the  most  important  is  Addison,  who  is  also 
to  be  counted  among  the  disciples  of  Dryden.62  Neither 
Dennis  nor  Addison  has  left  any  recorded  cause  for  differ- 
ence before  1710;  and  even  at  the  time  of  their  greatest  dis- 
agreement the  former  considered  the  latter  a  man  of  remark- 
*able  parts.53  To  Prior  Dennis  wrote  a  letter  on  the  relative 
merits  of  Horace  and  Juvenal,  which  he  afterwards  published 
without  date.  The  tone  of  the  letter  is  that  of  respect  and 
consideration,  and  we  may  note  occasional  phrases54  that  seem 
to  indicate  a  long  established  acquaintance.  With  the  gentle 
Southerne,  who  sat  on  Dryden's  left,  Dennis  was  on  especially 
good  terms ;  and  he  later  gratefully  acknowledged  this  friend's 

6lDunciad,  III,  11.  172-173. 

62  Addison  had  addressed  his  first  poetical  essays  to  Dryden  and  had 
also  written  the  arguments  prefixed  to  the  several  books  of  the  old  poet's 
translation  of  the  Aeneid. 

53  Original  Letters,  p.  173. 

64  Ibid.,  p.  430. 


14 

help  in  planning  his  play  Liberty  Asserted.  With  Maynwar- 
ing55  and  Moyle,56  other  members  of  the  Dryden  coterie, 
Dennis  lived  in  intimate  relations,  proud  of  the  praise  of  the 
former,  and  maintaining  an  affection  for  the  latter  which  a 
separation  of  twenty  years  could  not  stifle. 

The  circle  at  Will's,  however,  formed  but  a  part  of  Dennis's 
friends  and  acquaintances.  Whatever  fortune  he  inherited 
disappeared  rapidly  under  his  careless  management,  so  that  he 
was  forced  to  pay  an  ever  increasing  attention  to  the  patrons 
of  the  day,  especially  to  the  great  political  leaders.  To  the 
man  of  letters  of  the  late  seventeenth  century,  politics  meant 
much,  for  they  led  to  a  patronage,  which,  while  neither  re- 
markably great  nor  entirely  secure,  afforded  almost  the  only 
income  for  any  poet  who  did  not  write  plays. 

In  the  earlier  years  following  his  return  from  the  continent 
Dennis's  writings  show  a  very  moderate  interest  in  politics,  so 
that  it  is  not  surprising  that  early  in  1694  he  should  declare 
to  Dryden  that  "  all  who  are  at  present  concern'd  for  their 
Country's  Honour,  harken  more  after  your  Preparatives,  than 
those  for  the  next  Campaign."57  Possibly  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  Dennis  would  have  ranked  Dryden  very  close  to  his 
favorite  King  William  as  the  great  national  hero.  For  the 
latter  Dennis,  like  Defoe,  always  manifested  a  passionate 
admiration,  which  found  expression  in  nearly  every  poem  on 
state  affairs  he  ever  composed — from  his  Pindarick  Ode  to  the 

65  Arthur  Maynwaring,  or  Mainwaring  (1668-1712),  an  Oxford  and  Inner 
Temple  student,  was  in  his  earlier  years  an  effective  Tory  writer,  but 
afterwards,  through  his  friendship  with  Lord  Somers,  became  a  Whig.  To 
him  Steele  dedicated  the  first  volume  of  the  Tatler.  He  wrote  much  in 
the  Medley,  and  was  the  center  of  a  group  of  Whig  pamphleteers  which 
included  Oldmixon  and  Robert  Walpole.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Kit 
Cat  club,  and  while  in  France  after  the  peace  of  Ryswick  met  Boileau  and 
LaFontaine.  Dennis  refers  to  him  in  the  Original  Letters,  p.  4;  p.  85. 

"Walter  Moyle  (1671-1721),  was  also  an  Oxford  student  who,  as  one  of 
the  circle  at  Will's,  was  generously  praised  by  Dryden  and  other  members 
of  the  company,  especially  by  Charles  Gildon.  He  was  a  classical  scholar 
of  some  ability  and  a  political  pamphleteer.  About  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  he  left  London  and  seems  never  to  have  revisited  it. 
In  the  Original  Letters,  p.  159,  Dennis  includes  an  invitation  to  him  to 
spend  some  time  with  his  old  companions. 

w  Works,  II,  502. 


15 

King,  written  in  1691  to  his  panegyric  on  the  accession  of 
George  I.  Some  of  the  contemporary  political  events,  such  as 
the  naval  victory  at  LaHogue  in  1692  and  the  death  of  Queen 
Mary  two  years  later,  evoked  verses  from  Dennis.  He  did 
not,  however,  ally  himself  closely  with  either  political  party; 
and  it  is  evident  that  during  these  years  his  ideal  patron  was 
a  Maecenas,  one  interested  in  letters  for  themselves.58  It  was, 
indeed,  to  those  whom  he  regarded  as  thus  disposed  that  he 
made  his  first  appeal.  It  is  decidedly  significant  that  his  first 
dedication,  that  of  his  Poems  in  Burlesque,  should  have  been 
addressed  to  the  scapegoat  wit  and  courtier  Fleetwood  Shep- 
pard,  or  Shepherd,  as  Dennis  spelled  the  name,  who  for  many 
years  had  posed  as  a  patron  of  letters.59 

What  success  Shepherd  had  gained  had  been  due  in  large 
measure  to  his  relations  with  the  Earl  of  Dorset,  a  man  of 
no  very  high  moral  sense,  a  wit  and  courtier,  a  man  about 
town,  much  of  a  politician,  and  a  patron  of  poets.  We  have 
already  noticed  his  generosity  to  Dryden,  who  had  dedicated  to 
him  the  Essay  on  Satire  and  that  Of  Dramatic  Poesy. 
Wycherley  and  Butler  knew  his  munificence,  and  Prior  praised 
him  highly.  Possibly,  as  in  the  case  of  Prior,  Shepherd  intro- 
duced Dennis  to  Dorset,  to  whom  in  1693  our  author  addressed 
his  second  dedication,  that  of  Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose. 
Dennis  maintained  his  position  with  Dorset  so  well  that  the 
latter's  son  became  one  of  the  few  benefactors  of  his  old  age, 
and  that  too  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  1697  when  Robert, 
Earl  of  Sunderland,  succeeded  his  patron  as  Lord  Chamberlain 
our  author  dedicated  to  the  new  favorite  his  Plot  and  No  Plot. 

Among  the  protegees  of  Dorset  was  Lord  Halifax,60  who, 

"'After  Mecoenas  and  Cardinal  Richelieu  your  Lordship  [Dorset]  will 
stand  eternally  recorded  by  Fame,  as  the  last  in  succession  of  this  illus- 
trious Triumvirate,  and  it  will  also  stand  recorded  by  that  same  everlasting 
Register,  That  in  your  Lordship's  time,  England  had  more  good  Poets, 
than  it  could  boast  frpm  the  Conquest  to  you  before."  Dedication  to  the 
Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose,  1693. 

69  Rymer  dedicated  to  Shepherd  his  Tragedies  of  the  Last  Age. 

60  The  following  stories  from  the  Life  of  Mr.  John  Dennis,  1734,  P«  24> 
which  probably  contain  some  apocryphal  elements,  are  typical  of  a  large 
number  that  have  gathered  around  the  critic's  name :  "...  at  his  first 
introduction  into  that  Nobleman's  [Halifax's]  Acquaintance  an  Accident 


16 

according  to  Dennis,  "  received  more  dedications  than  any  other 
man  of  his  time."  He  proved  the  lifelong  friend  and  bene- 
factor of  the  critic.  The  Earl  of  Pembroke  must  also  be  men- 
tioned among  Dennis's  friends  as  one  who  remembered  him 
both  when  he  was  prosperous  and  after  he  fell  into  want.61 
Dennis  also  gained  the  favor  of  another  munificent  patron  of 
letters,  the  Duke  of  Ormond,62  to  whom  Dryden  had  addressed 
his  Plutarch.  The  Duke,  who  rather  courted  the  writers  of 
the  day,  graciously  accepted  the  dedication  of  Dennis's  play 
Rinaldo  and  Armida.  Buckingham  and  Lansdowne,  too,  re- 
ceived his  work  favorably:  the  former  was  pleased  with  his 
play  Rinaldo  and  Armida  and  was  chosen  as  the  patron  for 
his  chief  critical  work,  the  Advancement  and  Reformation  of 
Modern  Poetry,  1701.  The  latter,  by  introducing  Dennis  to 
Godolphin,  secured  for  the  critic  the  only  office  he  ever  held. 

The  only  definitely  known  amount  that  Dennis  received  from 
a  patron  was  one  hundred  guineas  for  his  play  Iphigenia.93  Of 
all  his  patrons  Lord  Lansdowne  was  perhaps  the  most  liberal, 

happened  that  might  have  lost  the  Favour  of  another  not  so  well  able  to 
discern  his  merit  as  My  Lord  Halifax,  for  having  been  invited  to  Supper, 
and  getting  much  intoxicated  with  some  fine  Wines,  he  had  not  often  been 
used  to,  he  grew  so  impatient  of  all  contradiction,  that  he  got  up  of  a 
sudden,  and  left  the  Room,  but  at  his  Exit,  overturned  the  whole  Side- 
board of  Plates  and  Glasses. 

"  The  next  morning,  seeing  Walter  Moyle,  who  was  one  of  the  Com- 
pany, he  told  him  that  he  had  quite  forgotten  what  had  happened,  for  he 
was  very  much  in  liquor,  and  desired  that  he  would  tell  him  in  what  man- 
ner he  went  away.  '  Why,  Sir,'  said  Mr.  Moyle,  '  you  went  away  like  the 
Devil,  and  took  one  corner  of  the  House  with  you.' 

"  Being  another  time  at  the  same  Nobleman's  House,  my  Lord  having 
a  very  fine  Parrot  he  was  very  fond  of,  and  happening  to  turn  toward 
Poll,  to  stroke  and  play  with  him,  Mr.  Dennis  got  up  on  a  sudden,  *  I  see,' 
said  he,  '  your  Lordship  is  engaged,  I  will  wait  on  you  another  time,'  and 
before  my  Lord  could  make  any  Answer  was  got  to  the  Door." 

It  is  noteworthy  that  all  the  stories  about  Dennis,  of  which  there  is 
a  fairly  large  group,  emphasize  his  impetuousness. 

91  Gentleman's  Magazine  (1795),  Vol.  LXV,  Ft.  i,  pp.  105-106. 

62  Among  those  receiving  his  benefactions  were  Congreve,  Addison,  New- 
ton, Locke,  and  Prior.  Pope  in  the  Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot,  11.  231-248, 
bitterly  denounced  his  patronage. 

**  Life  of  Mr.  John  Dennis,  p.  21. 


17 

for  Dennis  himself  wrote64  that  this  peer  once  made  him  "a 
Present  so  noble  as  never  to  have  been  made  by  any  Subject 
to  any  Author  now  living."  It  seems  impossible  to  determine 
when  this  present  was  bestowed,  or  what  was  its  amount. 
Possibly  Dennis's  statement  as  to  its  munificence  is  an  exag- 
geration, for  his  lively  gratitude  usually  prevented  him  from 
underestimating  the  benefactions  he  received.  It  seems  prob- 
able, however,  that  these  benefactions  were  not  frequent,  and 
that  of  themselves  they  would  have  afforded  a  very  precarious 
living  for  a  gentleman  about  town. 

Regarding  Dennis's  life  at  this  time  most  of  our  scanty  in- 
formation is  derived  from  his  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions f 
1696.  From  them  we  learn  that  he  was  out  of  town  a  great 
deal,65  that  much  of  the  time  he  was  not  in  good  health,66 
and  that  in  1695  he  was  "wracked  by  a  cruel  Passion"  of 
love.67  The  object  of  his  affection  was  a  Northamptonshire 
woman,  whose  father  disapproved  of  the  proposed  match. 
Wycherley,  whom  our  author  chose  as  his  confidant  in  this 
affair,  railed  at  him  good  naturedly  and  wrote  that  he  was 
pleased  when,  about  the  last  of  March,  1695,  Dennis  announced 
his  recovery  from  the  passion.68  By  the  following  August  our 

84  Original  Letters,  p.  86. 

85  Few   of   Dennis's   out  of  town  letters  give  any  idea  as  to  his  where- 
abouts.    On  January  10,  1793/4,  however,  he  wrote  to  Dryden  from  Busby 
Heath   (Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  p.  46).     At  the  beginning  of  the 
next  winter  he  was  again  out  of  town  (ibid.,  p.  24)  and  probably  remained 
away  till  spring  (ibid.,  p.  32).     Possibly  it  was  at  this  time  that  he  spent 
a  month   in   Northamptonshire    (ibid.,  p.    34).       He   was   back   in   the   city 
during  the  summer   (ibid.,  p.  99)   but  had  left  by  October  and  was  again 
out   of   town   at   the    time   of   the   publication   of   his   Remarks   on  Prince 
Arthur   (prefatory  note)   in   1696.     Dennis  manifested  a  Londoner's  usual 
regard  for  his  native  city,  which  he  declared  "  is  the  only  true  and  solid 
Foundation  of  the  English  Strength"    (Original  Letters,  p.  262);  but  for 
many  years  he  was  led  by  his  love  of  the  country  to  spend  at  least  a  few 
weeks  there   (ibid.,  p.    147). 

68  Original  Letters,  p.  24;  p.  55.     Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  p.  17. 

OT  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  pp.  34  ff. 

w  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  pp.  31  ff.  While  these  letters  are 
unsigned,  it  is  fairly  certain  from  their  position  in  the  collection  and  from 
their  nature,  together  with  Dryden's  remark  (Dennis's  Works,  I,  502) 
3 


18 

author  had  regained  his  spirits  sufficiently  to  be  flattered 
by  Congreve's  favorable  mention  of  him  to  a  woman 
acquaintance.69 

This  collection  of  letters  (which  supplies  most  of  the  in- 
formation just  given  concerning  Dennis)  illustrates  well  how 
our  author  followed  the  literary  fashions  of  the  time.  The 
letter  had  become  a  popular  form  in  France,  largely  through 
the  genius  of  Voiture,  and  in  England  had  found  its  best  repre- 
sentative of  the  century  in  Howell.  As  a  vehicle  for  gallantry, 
entertainment,  literary  gossip,  biography,  criticism,  politics, 
and  religion,  it  was  much  in  vogue.  Such  collections  as  Tom 
Brown's  Letters  from  the  Dead  to  the  Living  and  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  rake  Rochester  passed  through  frequent 
editions.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  as  one  of  his 
earliest  ventures  Dennis  should  have  published  in  1696  a  small 
volume  of  correspondence  between  himself  and  some  of  the 
more  prominent  members  of  the  group  at  Will's.70  In  these 

that  they   are  autobiographic.     It  is  not  known,  whether   Pope   alludes   to 
this  affair  in  the  lines  to  Cromwell,  July  12  or  13  (1707): 
"  And   for  a  butcher's   well-fed   daughter 
Great  D — s  roared  like  ox  at  slaughter." 

69  Dennis  remained  through  life  unmarried.     In  Pope's  Works,  VIII,  237, 
n.,   however,   is   given   the   following   story :     "  Lord   Marchmont   told    Sir 
George  Rose  that  he  was  once  at  Lord  Bathurst's  villa,  near  London,  when 
a  servant  whispered  something  to  Pope  which  disconcerted  him  so  visibly, 
that    Lord    Bathurst    inquired    of    the   man   what   he    said.      The    servant 
answered  that  a  young  gentleman  with  a  sword  had  desired  him  to  inform 
Mr.  Pope,  that  he  was  waiting  for  him  in  an  adjacent  lane,  and  that  his 
name  was   Dennis.     The   challenger  was   the   son   of  the   critic,   who   had 
come  to  avenge  his  father.     Lord  Bathurst  went  out  to  the  swordsman  in 
Pope's  stead,  and  succeeded  in  pacifying  him."     To  the  present  writer  this 
story  seems  hightly  improbable.     It  is  possible,  however,  that  Dennis  may 
have  had  a  natural  son,  though  there  is  no   further  evidence  at  present 
to  support  such  a  belief. 

70  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  Between  Mr.  Dryden,  Mr.  Wycherley, 

Mr. ,  Mr.  Congreve,  and  Mr.  Dennis.    Published  by  Mr.  Dennis,  With 

a  New  Translation  of  Select  Letters  of  Monsieur  Voiture,  1696.    Advertised 
in  the  Term  Catalogues  for  February,  1696.     In  1700  Tom  Brown  repub- 
lished  the  greater  part  of  this  volume  of  Dennis's  in  his  Familiar  and 
Courtly  Letters,  made  English,  .  .  .  by  Mr.  Dryden,  T.  Cheek  Esq.,  Mr* 
Dennis  .  .  .  With  Twelve  Select  Epistles  out  of  Aristaenetus ;  .  .  .  And 
a  Collection   of  Letters  of  Friendship  .  .  .  written   by   Mr.  Dryden,  Mr. 


19 

letters  we  find  mixed  with  expressions  of  mutual  admiration 
occasional  pieces  of  valuable  criticism,  such  as  Congreve's  dis- 
cussion of  the  nature  of  humor;  while  the  gossip  of  the  coffee 
house  is  mingled  with  suggestive  comments  on  writers  con- 
temporary and  classic.  At  the  close  of  this  body  of  cor- 
respondence are  printed  the  letters  of  Voiture  which  we  noticed 
in  discussing  the  relations  of  Dennis  and  Dryden. 

These  letters,  however,  were  not  Dennis's  earliest  published 
work.  In  the  Gentleman's  Journal;  or  Monthly  Miscellany 
for  May,  1692,  appeared  an  imitation  of  the  tenth  ode  of  the 
second  book  of  Horace,  preceded  by  an  editorial  note  to  the 
effect  that  "  the  Ingenious  Writer  of  this  poem  "  had  refused  to 
permit  the  publication  of  his  name.  By  June,  however  the  poet 
had  lost  some  of  his  coyness  and  was  prevailed  upon  to  allow 
the  following  editorial  preface  to  the  poem  Upon  Our  Victory 
at  Sea: 

"  With  much  difficulty  I  have  prevailed  upon  the  Ingenious  Gentleman 
who  wrote  it  [Upon  Our  Victory"}  to  let  you  know  to  whom  the  World 
is  oblig'd  for  so  admirable  a  Piece.  His  name  is  Mr.  John  Dennis.  And 
'tis  to  him  that  you  owe  that  beautiful  Translation  of  the  Ode  to  Licinius 
in  my  last." 

To  the  October  number  of  this  same  magazine  Dennis  con- 
tributed a  translation  of  the  eighth  satire  of  Juvenal,  just  at 
the  time  Dryden  was  turning  that  Roman  author  into  English. 
While  Dennis  was  making  these  first  ventures  in  the  Gentle- 
man's Journal,  he  was  also  preparing  to  publish  some  of  his 
poems  in  book  form.  Some  time  in  1692,  probably  late  in  the 
year,  appeared  his  Poems  in  Burlesque  with  a  "  Dedication  in 
Burlesque  "  to  Fleetwood  Shepherd,  and  the  Passion  of  Byblis, 
made  English  .  .  .  by  Mr.  Dennis.  In  so  much  as  this  trans- 
lation from  Ovid  was  not  advertised  till  the  24th  of  No- 

Wycherley,  .  .  .  and  other  hands.  The  Term  Catalogues  for  February, 
1702,  announce  Familiar  Letters  to  Persons  of  Honour  and  Quality  by  Mon- 
sieur Voiture ;  made  English  by  Mr.  Dryden,  Mr.  Congreve,  Mr.  Wycherley, 
and  Mr.  Dennis,  and  other  hands;  in  Two  Volumes  in  Octavo.  Nothing 
more  is  known  of  this  collection.  It  was  possibly  simply  a  slightly  changed 
edition  of  material  already  published.  In  1735  appeared  the  Works  of 
Monsieur  Voiture,  Translated  by  the  most  eminent  Hands,  -viz.,  Mr.  Dryden, 
Mr.  Dennis,  Dr.  Drake  .  .  .  Addressed  to  Miss  Blount  by  Mr.  Pope.  This 
volume,  which  reached  a  third  edition  in  1736,  was  published  by  Curll. 
For  its  history  see  Pope's  Works,  VIII,  253. 


20 

vember,71  it  seems  probable  that  the  Poems  in  Burlesque  may 
claim  priority  among  all  Dennis's  books  and  pamphlets.  These 
two  earliest  books,  we  may  note,  illustrate  respectively  favorite 
contemporary  types.  The  burlesque  had  been  made  so  popular 
in  France  by  Scarron  that  it  had  become  the  most  prominent 
form  of  non-dramatic  literature  and  for  a  time  practically 
monopolized  attention.  Thence  it  had  been  brought  to  Eng- 
land, where  Butler  had  used  it  in  Hudibras.72  It  was  but 
natural,  therefore,  that  Dennis  in  his  aspirations  to  be  counted 
among  the  wits  of  the  day  should  have  adopted  this  form  for 
what  is  possibly  his  first  pamphlet,  for  book  would  be  too 
dignified  a  term  to  apply  to  these  twenty  odd  pages  with  their 
large  type  and  broad  margins.  These  half  dozen  poems  in  octo- 
syllabics, of  which  the  principal  ones  are  entitled  A  Day's 
Ramble  in  Covent  Garden  and  the  Story  of  Orpheus  Bur- 
lesqu'd,  are  filled  with  a  broad  humor  and  display  an  occa- 
sional coarseness. 

The  Passion  of  Byblis,  which,  it  is  barely  possible,  may  have 
been  issued  earlier  in  1692  than  the  Poems  in  Burlesque,  also 
illustrates  how  Dennis  adopted  the  prevailing  literary  modes. 
Translating  from  the  classics  was  at  this  time  a  favorite  exer- 
cise of  literary  men,  with  whom  none  of  the  ancients  was  more 
popular  than  was  Ovid.  Dryden  published  his  translations 
from  that  author  in  1694  and  by  his  interest  in  the  task  must 
have  stimulated  Dennis  in  his  similar  employment.  It  is  also 
noteworthy  that  Dryden  did  not  attempt  this  particular  poem, 
which  was  then  one  of  the  best  known  in  Ovid.  In  the  preface 
to  his  translation  of  this  story  Dennis  criticized  Oldham  who 
had  undertaken  the  same  task,  maintaining  with  some  justness 
that  his  predecessor's  masculine  temper  was  not  suited  to 
translating  a  poem  that  "required  neither  Force  nor  Genius, 
but  only  a  Tenderness  of  Soul."  This  quality  Dennis  en- 
deavored to  supply. 

This  same  year  (November  17,  1692)  the  imprimatur  of 

71  London  Gazette. 

72  Dennis  always  manifested  the  highest  regard  for  Hudibras,  which  he 
was  obviously  imitating  in  these  poems.     Through  his  writings  are  scat- 
tered some  fifty  quotations  from  Butler's  pages,  which  show  a  remarkable 
knowledge  of  that  author. 


21 

Edward  Bohun  was  prefixed  to  a  volume  by  Dennis  called 
Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose.  The  title  page  bears  the 
date  of  1693. 73  The  prose  includes  three  letters  written  to  a 
friend  when  Dennis  was  on  the  continent,  and  a  translation  of 
Boileau's  speech  upon  his  admission  to  the  French  Academy.74 
The  variety  of  the  verse  included  also  helps  to  confirm  the 
appropriateness  of  the  title  chosen  for  the  book.  Here  are  two 
or  three  patriotic  poems,  a  few  of  gallantry,  and  some  imita- 
tions and  translations  of  Anacreon,  Horace,  and  Boileau. 
But  a  good  half  of  these  poems  are  Fables,  the  majority  of 
them  in  burlesque  and  bearing  a  moral  in  verse  longer  than 
the  stories  themselves.  L'Estrange's  Fables  had  appeared  but 
a  few  months  before,  and  LaFontaine  was  also  growing  in 
favor  in  England,  so  we  are  not  surprised  at  Dennis's  interest 
in  this  literary  form.  He  deserves  the  credit  of  being  one  of 
the  earliest  English  writers  to  assist  in  the  revival  of  the 
fable,  since  in  the  date  of  publication,  at  least,  his  fables  ante- 
date those  of  Lady  Winchilsea,  for  example,  by  nearly  twenty 

73  Advertised  in  the  Term  Catalogues  in  June,  1693.     In  November,  1692, 
the   Term   Catalogues  had   announced  "Poems  and  Letters  upon  Several 
Occasions  by  Mr.  Dennis,  Octavo,  D.  Brown,  at  the  Sign  of  the  Swan  and 
Bible."     Possibly  this  is  the  title  of  a  third  volume  issued  by  Dennis  within 
these   closing   months   of    1692.      It   seems   much   more  probable,    however, 
that  this  was  simply  another  title  for  the  Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose, 
for  that  volume  is  not  inaptly  described  by  the  title  advertised.     Futher- 
more,    Brown    actually    published    the    Miscellanies,    in    octavo,    and    some 
of    Dennis's    other   publications,    such    as   his  Britannia   Triumphans,   were 
twice  noticed  in  the  Term  Catalogues.     In  1697  appeared  a  second  edition 
of  the  Miscellanies  in   Verse  and  Prose,  bearing  the  metamorphosed  title 
Miscellany  Poems,  By  Mr.  Dennis:    With  Select  Translations  of  Horace, 
Juvenal,  Mons.  Boileau' s  Epistles,  Satyrs,  and  Aesop's  Fables  in  Burlesque 
Verse.     To  which  is  added,   The  Passion  of  Byblis,    With  some   Critical 
Reflections  on  Mr.   Oldham,   and   his   Writings,    With  Letters  and  Poems. 
The  Second  Edition  with  Large  Additions.     The  "  Large  Additions  "  con- 
sisted of  the  Passion  of  Byblis,  which  had  previously  been  published  sepa- 
rately and  of  some  half  dozen  closely  printed  pages  of  notes  and  comments 
on   Oldham's  translation   of   the  poem.     This  collection,   with   exactly   the 
changed  title  just  given,  was,  however,  advertised  in  the  London  Gazette, 
June  15,  1696. 

74  Brown  included   this  translation   in   the    1698   edition   of  his  Familiar 
Letters. 


22 

years.75  The  preface  of  this  volume  is  also  of  interest,  for 
it  shows  that,  while  Dennis  was  translating  Boileau's  verses 
and  speech,  he  was  also  absorbing  that  writer's  critical  ideas. 

Two  years  later,  in  i6o,5,76  Dennis's  admiration  for  King 
William,  which  we  have  already  noticed,  found  expression  in 
the  Court  of  Death:  a  Pindaric k  Poem,  dedicated  to  the 
Memory  of  her  Most  Sacred  Majesty  Queen  Mary.  The  poet 
here  represents  himself  as  carried  to  the  court  of  "  Grim 
Death,  the  Giant  Terror,"  who  declares  that  the  only  thing 
that  can  break  William's  "matchless  spirit"  is  the  death  of 
the  Queen,  which  is  accordingly  decreed.  Evidently  the  domi- 
nant love  for  things  reasonable  was  shocked  by  Dennis's  "  con- 
vulsive transports,"  for  he  defended  himself  in  the  preface 
against  the  "horrible  extravagancies"  which  had  been  "so 
falsely  and  so  unreasonably"  laid  to  his  charge. 

Such  charges,  however,  failed  to  weaken  Dennis's  admira- 
tion for  the  Pindaric,  for  in  1697  he  published  what  is  probably 
the  "most  enthusiastic"  of  all  his  poems — the  Nuptuals  of 
Britain's  Genius  and  Fame.  A  Pindarick  Poem  on  the  Peace. 
The  following  lines,  which  begin  this  short  effusion,  will  indi- 
cate all  too  plainly  why  these  verses  failed  to  bring  either 
commendation  or  reward: 

"  What  divine  Rapture  shakes  my  Soul  ? 
What  Fury  rages  in  my  Blood, 
And  drives  about  the  stormy  Flood? 
What  makes   my  sparkling   Eye-balls  rowl? 
See,  see  the  Godess  of  the  Lyre 
Descending  in  Tempestuous  fire ; 
Hence  ye  Profane,  be  gone,  retire ;  " 

75  "The  first  six  books  of  his  [LaFontaine's]  Fables  were  published  in 
France  in  1668,  other  parts  appearing  in  1671,  1678,  1679,  and  the  twelve 
books  in  1694.  Their  popularity  in  England  is  shown  by  a  remark  of 
Addison,  who  writing  in  1711  in  praise  of  fables,  says  that  LaFontaine 
'  by  this  way  of  writing  is  come  into  vogue  more  than  any  other  writer 
of  our  times.' "  Reynolds's  Poems  of  Anne  Countess  of  Winchilsea, 
Chicago,  1903,  cviii.  These  fables  by  Dennis,  it  may  be  noted,  seem  to 
invalidate  Miss  Reynolds's  statement  that  Lady  Winchilsea  was  "first  in 
the  field  with  a  poetic  form  destined  to  great  popularity  in  succeeding 
years."  Ibid.,  cxi. 

"Advertised  in  the  London  Gazette  for  March  n,  1694/5.  The  second 
edition  of  this  poem  was  advertised  in  the  Term  Catalogues  in  May,  1695. 


23 

Congreve,  too,  had  celebrated  in  verse  this  peace  of  Ryswick, 
so  that  he  came  in  for  attack  along  with  Dennis  in  the  anony- 
mous and  almost  negligible  Justice  of  the  Peace,  or  a  Vindica- 
tion of  Peace  from  Several  Late  Pamphlets  Written  by  Mr. 
Congreve,  Dennis,  &c.,  1697.  This  is  a  short  poem  in  "  dog- 
gerel verse,"  accusing  Dennis  and  Congreve  of  an  interest  in 
irregular  verse  forms,  both  to  the  neglect  of  the  needs  of  the 
country.  Neither  Congreve  nor  Dennis  ever  took  any  notice 
of  this  attack,  if  indeed  they  ever  saw  it. 

Though  the  poems  of  this  period77  gained  Dennis  some 
fame78  and  more  than  one  substantial  present,79  they  brought 
a  reward  by  no  means  adequate  for  his  support.  Sometimes 
they  failed  of  any  financial  return:  the  Court  of  Death,  for 
example,  was,  according  to  the  author's  own  statement,80 
"  almost  the  only  poem  in  praise  of  the  late  Queen  that  re- 
ceived no  reward  from  the  Government."  It  is  not  strange, 
therefore,  that  during  this  period  Dennis  made  three  ventures 
as  a  playwright.  In  fact,  living  as  he  did  in  contact  with  the 
most  successful  dramatists  of  the  time,  it  was  almost  inevitable 
that  he  should  try  his  hand  at  a  play. 

Sometime  in  May,  i697,81  his  first  play,  A  Plot  and  No 
Plot,  or  Jacobite  Cruelty,  a  Comedy  was  acted  at  the  Drury 

77  From  the  following  passage  in  A  Comparison  Between  the  Two  Stages, 
1702,  p.   38,  it  seems  that  Dennis  also  translated  Horace's  Ars  Poetica: 
"...  has  he   [the  author  of  a  Trip   to   the  Jubilee]   never  read  the  Ars 
Poetica?     That's  strange;  if  he  does  not  understand  Latin,  he  may  read 
it  in  English,  done  by  my  Lord  Roscommon,  Oldham,  or  if  he  does  not 
understand  good  poetry,  he  may  read  it  translated  by  Dennis,  which  is  as 
uncouth,  hobbling  Verse  as  he  can  desire." 

78  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  p.  51. 

79 "  For  since  it  is  plain  that  to  the  considerable  detriment  to  my  little 
affairs,  I  declar'd  for  the  Government  at  a  time  when  I  had  no  Encourage- 
ment, nor  any  Prospect  of  receiving  the  least  Return;  I  think  I  should 
prove  the  most  foolish  as  well  as  the  most  ungrateful  of  men,  if  I  could 
fall  from  my  English  Principles  at  a  time  when  I  have  received  repeated 
Encouragement  from  an  Extraordinary  Man  whose  Favour  is  sufficient  to 
give  Force  and  Fire  to  the  most  Spiritless."  Preface  to  the  Remarks  on 
Prince  Arthur,  1696. 

80  Preface  to  Liberty  Asserted,  1704. 

81  Advertised  in  the  London  Gazette  for  May  31,  1697. 


24 

Lane  theatre.82  It  relates  the  story  of  a  conspiring  Jacobite 
guardian,  caught  by  two  wards  who  may  not  marry  without 
his  consent.  Their  love  is,  of  course,  successful.  Possibly  the 
conception  of  this  drama  arose,  as  Mr.  Ward  suggests,83  from 
the  discovery  of  the  Assassination  plot  the  previous  year.  Joe 
Haines,  the  actor,  declared  in  the  prolog  which  he  wrote  and 
delivered  that  the  play  was  prepared  in  six  weeks ;  and  know- 
ing Dennis's  methods  of  composition,  we  may  well  believe  the 
statement.  The  comedy  was  produced  in  May,  at  a  time,  says 
Dennis,  when  the  heat  was  intolerable;  and  he  adds  that 
though  the  crowds  were  not  so  large  as  the  customary  winter 
ones,  they  were  well  pleased  with  the  play.  We  must  remem- 
ber, however,  that  Dennis  was  always  optimistic  in  reporting 
the  receptions  of  his  own  dramas. 

The  history  of  A  Plot  and  No  Plot  after  its  first  performance 
is  a  brief  one.  In  his  reply  to  Congreve  in  1699  Collier 
incidentally  replied  to  Dennis,  who  had  published  a  vindica- 
tion of  the  stage,  by  declaring  that  this  comedy  "swears  at 
length  and  is  scandalously  Smutty  and  Profane."  The 
theatrical  dictionaries  of  the  eighteenth  century84  treat  it  as 
they  do  most  of  Dennis's  plays,  either  simply  mentioning  the 
name  and  date  (the  latter  not  always  correctly),  or  bestowing 
a  few  words  of  perfunctory  praise.  In  April,  1746,  the 
comedy  was  revived  at  Covent  Garden. 

Dennis's  second  play,Rinaldo  andArmida/is  certainly  a  curi- 
ous one  for  a  writer  who  fulminated  against  music  as  effemi- 
nating and  against  the  spectacular  as  ignoble.  In  this  drama, 
produced,  probably  in  i698,85  at  the  Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, 

82  "  Baldernoe — Penkethman  ;  Bull  Senior — Doggett ;  Bull  Junior — Gibber ; 
Belcil — Harland;  Rumor — Haines;  Sue  Frowsy — Mr[s]   Bullock;  Frisket — 
Mrs.   Kent;   Celia — Mrs.   Rogers."     Genest,  Some  Account  of  the  English 
Stage  from  the  Restoration  in  1660  to  1830,  Bath,   1832,  II,   no. 

83  History  of  English  Dramatic  Literature  to  the  Death  of  Queen  Anne, 
2d  ed.,  London,  1899,  HI,  295- 

84  E.  g.,  A  Companion  to  the  Play  House  .  .  .  Composed  in  the  Form  of 
a  Dictionary,  London,  1764.     Vide  sub  Dennis:  John  Edgerton :  Theatrical 
Remembrancer,  London,  1788,  p.  123. 

85  The  date  of  this  play  is  open  to  question.     Genest  gives  simply  1699 
without  month   or  day,   following,   in  all  probability,   the  date   printed   on 
the  title  page  of  the  published  version.     The  following  advertisement  in 


25 

Dennis  has  left  us  an  interesting  mixture  of  Venuses  and 
Cupids,  Shepherds  and  Nymphs,  with  enchanted  palaces  that 
rose  to  music.86  With  the  exception  of  a  single  chorus,  which 
was  borrowed  from  Henry  Purcell,  the  music,  forming  a  con- 
siderable feature  of  the  play,  was  written  by  John  Eccles. 
Dennis  took  his  plot  from  Tasso's  Jerusalem  Delivered,  much 
as  Dryden  in  his  Prince  Arthur  had  closely  copied  from  that 
same  author  his  chief  incident — the  adventures  of  Rinaldo 
on  Mount  Olivet.  Though  the  play  created  something  of  a 
stir  among  the  theatre  goers  of  the  town,  it  failed  and  after  a 
short  run  was  withdrawn. 

Early  in  December,  i6gg,87  the  managers  of  the  Lincoln's- 
Inn-Fields  produced  Dennis's  'third  play,  Iphigenia,  based  on 
the  Iphigenia  in  Taurus  of  Euripides.  The  story  of  that 
heroine  was  at  this  time  a  popular  one  for  dramatic  representa- 
tion. Dennis  shows  that  he  was  familiar  with  Racine's  treat- 
ment88 and  in  his  preface  mentions  the  dramatization  of  M. 
de  la  Grange,  which  had  lately  been  "brought  on  the  French 
stage."  Speaking  of  his  own  play,  Dennis  went  on  to  state 
that  the  audience  was  much  better  pleased  with  the  fourth 
and  fifth  acts  which  he  had  made  his  own  than  with  the 
second  where  he  had  left  Euripides  almost  untouched.  The 

the  London  Gazette  for  December  22,  1698,  indicates  that  the  play  had 
already  been  performed :  "  Rinaldo  and  Armida,  a  Tragedy  as  it  is  Acted 
at  the  Theatre  in  Little-Lincoln' s-Inn  Fields.  Written  by  Mr.  Dennis. 
Printed  for  Jacob  Tonson  in  Gray's-Inn-Lane."  This  advertisement  is 
practically  a  reproduction  of  the  title  page  of  the  play.  In  Dennis's  career 
as  a  dramatist  there  is  no  other  instance  of  his  producing  more  than  one 
play  in  a  season. 

1 "  At  last  the  old  stagers  moulded  a  piece  of  Pastry  work  of  their  own, 
and  made  kind  of  Lenten  Feast  with  their  Rinaldo  and  Armida;  that 
surprised  not  only  Drury-Lane,  but  indeed  all  the  town.  Nobody  dreamed 
of  an  Opera  there.  .  .  .  Well  with  this  Vigary  they  tugged  a  while,  and 
.  .  .  not  a  Fop  but  ran  to  see  the  Celebrated  Virgin  .  .  .  there  she  shined 
in  the  full  Zodiac,  the  brightest  Constellation  there ;  'twas  a  pleasant  re- 
flection all  the  time  to  see  her  scituated  there  among  the  Bulls,  Capricorns, 
Sagittaries,  and  yet  the  Virgo  still  remain  intacta  ...  at  last  down  goes 
Rinaldo's  enchanted  mountain;  .  .  .  and  there  is  not  so  much  as  a  Mole- 
hill seen  on't."  Comparison  Between  the  Two  Stages,  1702,  p.  35. 

87  Advertised  in  the  London  Gazette  for  January  i,  1699/1700. 

88  Dennis's  Works,  II,  409. 


26 

play  was  well  staged  and  well  acted  and  had  also  the  zealous 
support  of  Colonel  Codrington,89  who  wrote  the  epilogue.90 
Dennis  thought  that  the  first  representation  was  as  successful 
as  he  might  reasonably  expect.  He  was  pleased,  he  says  in 
the  preface,  with  the  close  attention  and  profound  silence ;  and 
he  added  naively,  "...  there  was  something  like  what  hap- 
pened at  the  representation  of  Pecuvius,  his  Tragedy.  For 
when  Orestes  discovered  his  passion  for  Iphigenia  in  the 
fourth  act  there  ran  a  general  murmur  through  the  Pit,  which 
is  what  I  had  never  seen  before."  "The  critics,  however, 
after  allowing  themselves  to  be  pleased  by  Nature,"  he  con- 
tinues, "began  to  study  how  to  be  displeased  by  Art"  and 
censured  the  drama  severely.  From  the  manager's  standpoint 
the  play  was  a  decided  failure,  for  it  probably  did  not  pay 
the  expenses  of  staging,  and  after  six  performances  it  was 
withdrawn.91  Following  closely  upon  this  play  came  one  by 
Boyer,92  based  upon  Racine's  treatment  of  the  Iphigenia  in 

89  Christopher  Codrington  (1668-1710),  an  Oxford  student  and  later  a 
soldier,  gained  something  of  a  name  about  town  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
seventeenth  century  as  a  wit  and  a  courtier.  He  received  dedications  from 
Dennis,  Creech,  and  others  and  took  part  in  the  replies  to  Blackmore's 
Satire  against  Wit,  1700.  In  1697  he  was  made  governor  of  the  Leeward 
Islands.  Six  years  later  he  resigned  his  appointment  and  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  in  retirement  on  his  estate  in  the  Barbadoes. 

90 "  His  Intimate  Friend,  Colonel  Codrington,  Governor  of  the  Leeward 
Islands,  having  taken  a  great  deal  of  Pains  to  support  his  Interest,  at  the 
Representation,  not  only  by  writing  the  Epilogue  to  it,  but  by  encouraging 
all  his  Friends  to  take  Tickets  for  the  Poet's  Night,  Mr.  Dennis  thought 
himself  obliged,  as  he  had  been  really  his  Patron,  to  make  a  publick 
Acknowledgment  of  it,  but  when  he  told  the  Colonel  of  his  Intentions,  he 
would  by  no  means  consent  to  it,  telling  him  that  after  what  he  had  done, 
it  would  be  thought  by  everybody  that  he  had  courted  the  Dedication :  but 
that  the  Author  might  not  imagine  that  he  did  it  to  save  the  Present, 
which  is  usually  made  on  these  Occasions,  he  forced  (undoubtedly  without 
any  great  Violence)  an  hundred  Guineas  upon  him."  Life  of  Mr.  John 
Dennis,  p.  20.  Possibly  Dennis  managed  to  kill  two  birds  with  one  stone, 
for  when  the  play  appeared  in  print,  it  was  dedicated  to  Mr.  John  Freeman. 

91  The  criticism  of  this  play  in  A  Comparison  Between  the  Two  Stages, 
p.  181,  which  emphasized  Dennis's  fondness  for  the  word  "tremendous," 
gave  the  town  an  epithet  which  was  applied  to  our  author  throughout 
his  life. 

82  Abel  Boyer  (1667-1729)   was  born  of  Huguenot  parents  in  Castres  in 


27 

Aulis.  The  ill  success  of  this  drama — it  seems  to  have  fared 
worse  than  Dennis's — caused  its  author  to  say  some  harsh 
things  in  his  preface  about  the  "  Giant  Wit  and  Giant  Critic," 
whose  tiresome  play  had  deterred  people  from  attending  a  far 
better  one,  which  differed  from  the  former  "no  less  than  a 
young,  airy  Virgin  from  a  stale  and  antiquated  Maid/' 
Iphigenia  was  the  last  of  Dennis's  dramas  produced  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  all  of  which,  we  may  note  in  summary, 
had  proved  ephemeral.  Though  he  was  beginning  to  gain  a 
name  as  an  unsuccessful  playwright  and  at  times  was  advised 
to  stick  to  his  criticism,93  he  had  enjoyed  a  sufficient  success 
to  induce  managers  still  to  give  respectful  attention  to  what- 
ever dramas  he  might  bring  them. 

Dennis's  earlier  plays,  however,  very  deservedly  contributed 
less  to  his  reputation  than  did  his  critical  writings  of  this  same 
period.  In  1693  appeared  his  first  venture  in  criticism,  bear- 
ing the  significant  title  the  Impartial  Critick,9*  which  was  a  — 
reply  to  Rymer's  Short  View  of  Tragedy.  Both  of  these 
books  were  published  early  in  1693,  that  by  Dennis  probably 
a  week  before  his  Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose?* 

The  day  has  long  passed  when  we  can  accept  the  character-  1 
ization  of  Rymer  as  the  worst  critic  that  ever  lived  without 
asking  what  were  his  beliefs,  and  how  he  was  regarded  by  his 
contemporaries.     In  his  time  Rymer  was  considered  a  leading  '» 
critic,96  and  to  us  he  is  important  both  as  one  of  our  earlier 

Upper  Languedoc.  In  1692  he  became  tutor  to  Allen  Bathurst,  afterwards 
Lord  Bathurst.  Boyer's  best  claim  to  general  remembrance  is  his  Dic- 
tionnaire  Royal  Francois  et  Anglois,  published  at  the  Hague  in  1702;  but 
his  monthly  collection  of  events  known  as  the  Political  State  is  valuable 
to  all  students  of  the  period,  and  he  was  one  of  the  most  influential  of 
the  Whig  journalists.  Later  he  quarrelel  with  Swift,  and  he  was  also  given 
a  place  in  the  Dunciad. 

93  A  Comparison  Between  the  Two  Stages,  p.  181. 

84  The  Impartial  Critick,  or  Some  Observations  upon  A  Short  view  of 
tragedy,  written  by  Mr.  Rymer,  London,  1693. 

95  The  Impartial  Critick  was  advertised  in  the  London  Gazette  for  February 
27,  1692/3.     At  the  close  of  the  book  appeared  the  following  notice:  "Mis- 
cellany Poems  &c    By  Mr.  Dennis,  will  be  published  this  next  week.     Printed 
by  James  Knapton,  at  the  Crown  in  St.  Paul's  Church  Yard." 

96  Even  Dryden,  who   might  well  have  been  prejudiced  against  his  suc- 
cessor as  historiographer,  praised  him  highly  in  the  very  "  Heads  "  of  an 


28 

critics  and  as  one  of  the  first  and  foremost  advocates  of  the 
-  rules  which  prevailed  in  English  criticism  down  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  his  Short  View  of 
Tragedy  just  mentioned  Rymer  advocated  the  introduction 
into  the  English  drama  of  the  chorus  which  had  been  used 
with  some  success  by  Racine  in  certain  of  his  plays.  The 
most  interesting  part  of  the  book,  however,  is  the  examination, 
passage  by  passage,  of  Othello,  Julius  Caesar,  and  Catiline. 
The  book  aroused  a  good  deal  of  discussion  and  comment  and 
reached  a  third  edition  within  five  years. 

Dennis's  primary  purpose  in  his  prompt  reply  was  to  defend 
Shakespere;  but  unfortunately  he  stopped  short  of  a  discus- 
sion of  Othello  and  Julius  Caesar,  promising  that  later  he 
would  show  that  "contrary  to  Mr.  Rymer's  assertion,  Shake- 
spere is  a  great  genius."  The  Impartial  Critick  consists  of  an 
introductory  letter  to  a  friend  and  of  five  dialogues  between 
two  characters,  Beaumont  and  Jack  Freeman,  the  latter  repre- 
senting Dennis's  views.  Possibly  Dennis  chose  this  latter 
name  as  a  compliment  to  the  friend  to  whom  he  had  dedicated 
his  Iphigenia.  The  key  note  of  the  greater  part  of  this  reply 
iis  sounded  in  the  introductory  paragraph,  where  our  critic  de- 
'clares  that  the  Grecian  climate,  politics,  religion,  and  social 
)  customs  were  so  different  from  the  English  that  it  would  be 
absurd  to  attempt  to  establish  the  Athenian  drama  in  London. 
Three  years  later,  in  1696,  Dennis  probably  published  the 
Letters  on  Milton  and  Congreve,  which  Godwin  mentions  in 
his  Lives  of  Edward  and  John  Phillips  (p.  292,  n.).  Un- 
fortunately the  book  cannot  be  found  in  the  British  Museum, 
though  it  is  given  in  the  catalog.  Some  of  the  letters,  pos- 
sibly, are  identical  with  those  included  by  Dennis  in  1721  in 
the  Proposals  for  printing  certain  of  his  works  which  we  shall 
notice  later.  We  can  only  regret  the  loss  of  such  letters 
written  by  the  critic  who  was  a  close  friend  of  Congreve  and 
one  of  the  first  enthusiastic  admirers  of  Milton. 

In  this  same  year,  1696,  appeared  the  Remarks  on  a  Book, 
entitled  Prince  Arthur,  cm  Heroic  Poem,  with  some  general 

answer  prepared  against  him.     Pope,  too,  commended  him.     Cf.  Garnett's 
Age  of  Dry  den,  p.  152. 


29 

Critical  Observations,  and  several  New  Remarks  upon  Virgil, 
which  Mr.  Gosse  has  characterized97  as  "the  first  English 
review  of  a  book  in  a  modern  sense."  Dryden  had  announced 
his  intention  of  treating  this  subject  of  Arthur,  but  he  was 
anticipated  by  Blackmore  and  attacked  in  the  preface  of  this 
popular  epic.  Probably,  then,  Dennis  was  led  to  make  his 
Remarks  through  his  friendship  for  Dryden  as  well  as  through 
his  life  long  opposition  to  what  he  felt  was  unmerited  success. 
This  reply,  with  its  two  hundred  closely  printed  pages  and 
its  forty  more  of  preface,  constitutes  Dennis's  longest,  though 
not  his  most  important,  work.  Scattered  through  the  criti- 
cism are  several  interesting  observations  on  Vergil  and  a 
number  of  quotations  from  Paradise  Lost;  while  for  the 
diversion  of  the  reader  Dennis  incorporated  near  the  middle 
of  the  book  a  fragment  of  a  drama  Hypollitus,  which  he  had 
imitated  from  Euripides.  The  most  important  part  of  the 
book  is  that  section  of  the  preface  where  Dennis  outlines  his 
unfulfilled  design  of  discussing  more  at  large  the  nature  of 
poetry.  Some  of  the  ideas  here  suggested  he  elaborated  five 
years  later  in  his  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern 
Poetry;  others  he  never  discussed  except  incidentally. 

The  reception  of  Dennis's  critique  was  very  favorable.08 
Contrary  to  general  statement,  however,  Blackmore  did  not 
take  the  criticism  kindly,  for  while  Dennis's  discussion  was 
entirely  free  from  personalities  and  from  any  bitterness,  it 
was  keen.  We  are  not  surprised,  therefore,  that  when  Black- 
more  wrote  his  Satire  on  Wit  in  1700  he  referred  to  Dennis 
thus: 

"  Those  who  will  D — n — s  melt,  and  hope  to  find 
A  goodly  mass  of  bullion  left  behind, 
Do,  as  the  Hibernian  wit,  who,  as  'tis  told, 
Burnt  his  gilt  feathers  to  collect  the  gold." 

Dennis  replied  in  the  Epigrams  published  against  Blackmore 
by  Tom  Brown ;"  but  he  and  Blackmore  held  so  many  views  in 

91  History  of  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  London,  1889,  p.  394. 

98  Langbaine's  Lives  and  Characters  of  the  English  Dramatic  Poets,  1698, 
p.  38. 

""The  wits  easily  confederated  against  him  [Blackmore],  as  Dryden 
whose  favor  they  almost  all  courted  was  his  professed  enemy."  Johnson's 
Lives  of  the  Poets,  ed.  1854,  II,  253. 


30 

common  on  religion,  politics,  and  poetry,  that  they  afterwards 
became  staunch  friends,  Blackmore  declaring  Dennis  a  greater 
critic  than  Boileau,100  and  Dennis  ranking  Blackmore's  Crea- 
tion with  the  writings  of  Lucretius.101 

In  the  preface  to  Prince  Arthur  Blackmore  had  attacked  the 
license  of  the  drama,  but  his  note  of  half  friendly  criticism 
was  nothing  to  the  blast  which  Jeremy  Collier  sounded  two 
years  later  (1698)  in  his  Short  View  of  the  Immorality  and 
Profaneness  of  the  English  Stage.  Into  the  war  which  fol- 
lowed Dennis  was  drawn,  probably  in  part  through  his  friend- 
ship with  Congreve  who  had  been  severely  attacked;  and  his 
reply102  is  possibly  the  best  of  the  numerous  answers  made 
to  Collier.  Most  of  those  replying  denied  Collier's  statements 
in  toto.  Dennis,  however,  recognized  the  flagrant  abuses  of 
the  existing  stage  and  felt  that  his  fellow  Cantabrigian  was 
justified  in  attacking  them.  It  was  only  when  Collier  assailed 
*  the  stage  itself  that  Dennis  very  sanely  took  issue  with  him.103 

One  of  the  first  results  of  Dennis's  reply,  which  seems  to 
have  escaped  previous  comment,  was  an  indictment  for  libelling 
the  government,  a  charge  not  without  its  grim  humor  as  we 
recall  his  ardent  and  unremitting  defense  of  the  established 
succession : 

"  Tu.  29  Nov.  1698.  Yesterday  being  the  last  day  of  the  term,  the  grand 
jury  of  Middlesex  presented  Mr.  Dennis,  his  book,  called  a  Vindication  of 

100  Preface  to  Alfred,   1723,  ii.     It  may  also  be  noted  that  Blackmore's 
name  appeared  in  1704  among  the  subscribers  to  Dennis's  proposed  Criti- 
cism of  our  Most  Celebrated  English  Poets  deceas'd. 

101  Quoted  in  the  British  Poets,  XXVIII,  59.     If  it  be  urged  that  Dennis 
is  here  merely  bestowing  a  friendly  compliment,  we  may  well  reply  that 
Addison   characterized  this   same   epic    (339th  Spectator}    as   "  one   of   the 
most  noble  and  useful  productions  of  our  English  verse,"  and  that  Johnson 
declared  in  his  life  of  Blackmore  that  "  if  that  author  had  written  nothing 
else,  his  Creation  would  have  transmitted  him  to  posterity  among  the  first 
favourites  of  the  English  Muse." 

102  The  Usefulness  of  the  Stage  to  the  Happiness  of  Mankind,  to  Govern- 
ment, and  to  Religion.     Occasioned  by  a  late  book  written  by  J.  Collier. 
London,  1698.    This  reply  to  Collier  was  reprinted  in  1725. 

103  If  Mr.  Collier  had  attack'd  the  corruptions  of  the  Stage,  for  my  part 
I  should  have  been  so  far  from  blaming  him  that  I  should  publickly  have 
returned  him  my  thanks :  for  these  abuses  are  so  great  and  flagrant  that 
there  is  a  necessity  to  reform  them.    Introduction  to  the  Usefulness  of  the 
Stage. 


31 

the  Stage,  in  answer  to  Collier  as  a  libel  against  the  government,  for  assert- 
ing that  the  people  of  England  are  most  prone  to  rebellion  of  any  in  the 
world,  and  always  quarreling  among  themselves,  if  not  diverted  by  plays, 
upon  which  the  court  ordered  an  indictment  against  him,  and  the  Attorney 
general  to  prosecute  him." 104 

The  indictment  was  probably  quashed,105  for  Dennis's  political 
adversaries,  in  their  later  blasts  and  counterblasts,  would  cer- 
tainly have  made  capital  of  his  conviction  as  an  enemy  to  the 
government.  Collier  himself  seems  to  have  made  no  response 
to  Dennis  beyond  noting  the  smuttiness  and  profanity  of  A 
Plot  and  No  Plot.  Dennis,  however,  continued  the  conflict 
by  answering  in  1705  Collier's  Dissuasive  from  the  Play  House 
with  a  small  pamphlet  entitled  A  Person  of  Quality's  Answer 
to  Mr.  Collier's  Letter.109  Twenty-five  years  later,  he  was 
drawn  into  a  similar  conflict  with  Law,  the  mystic. 

In  closing  the  account  of  this  section  of  Dennis's  life  we 
may  note  that  on  the  whole  his  lot  was  a  fairly  comfortable 
one.  While  he  had  been  far  from  rich,  he  had  not  only  been 
free  from  want  but  had  been  in  a  position  to  mingle  with  the 
wits  and  gentlemen  of  the  town.  In  politics  he  was  known 
as  a  strong  but  thoroughly  independent  Whig,  on  good  terms 
with  some  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  party. 
Though  he  gained  a  name  for  brusqueness  and  a  certain  testi- 
ness  of  temper,  he  entered  upon  no  serious  quarrels  but  lived 
on  peaceable  terms  with  his  contemporaries  and  was  respected 
by  them.  He  had  identified  himself  with  the  admirers  of 
Dryden  and  had  come  to  place  that  literary  dictator  "at  the 
head  of  [his]  small  circle  of  friends."  He  had  produced  three 
plays  which  had  met  with  indifferent  success,  had  gained  a 
name  as  a  writer  of  Pindarics,  and  had  published  some  of  the 
best  criticism  produced  in  the  last  decade  of  the  seventeenth  | 
century.  To  his  contemporaries  he  seemed  a  man  of  decided 
promise. 

104  Luttrell,  Brief  historical  relation  of  State  Affairs  from  Sept.  1678* 
April  1714,  Oxford,  1857,  IV,  456. 

108  Possibly  the  following  allusion  in  the  Critical  Specimen  (p.  12)  hu- 
morously exaggerates  the  event :  "  How  the  Critic  was  taken  for  a  Plotter, 
and  his  being  discharged  as  not  Guilty,  upon  a  diligent  search  of  all  his 
Papers." 

loa  In  this  connection,  too,  may  be  mentioned  Defoe's  poem,  the  Pacifica- 
tor, which  deals  with  this  controversy  and  has  slight  hits  at  Dennis. 


II 

1700-1710 

By  the  year  1700,  which  marks  the  death  of  Dryden,  Dennis 
had  come  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  foremost  among  the 
men  of  letters  of  that  rather  barren  period  of  our  literature. 
Within  the  next  ten  years  he  produced  the  bulk  of  his  most 
important  work.  The  earlier  years  of  this  decade  were  espe- 
cially busy  ones  for  him,  and  he  turned  rapidly  from  one  form 
of  composition  to  another.  To  prepare  five  plays  in  a  little 
more  than  the  same  number  of  years  would  seem  to  most 
men  a  sufficient  task  of  itself;  but  Dennis  found  time  not 
only  for  these  but  also  for  a  number  of  long  poems  on  the 
great  contemporary  national  events,  each  in  itself  an  extended 
and,  as  he  himself  confessed,  an  exhausting  labor.  To  these 
must  be  added  his  three  or  four  political  pamphlets,  of  which 
at  least  one  shows  much  care  in  the  collecting  of  material. 
But  with  far  the  greatest  labor  he  produced  in  these  years 
three  long  critical  discussions,  which  must  have  made  severe 
demands  upon  him,  for  in  their  composition  Dennis  was  not 
only  exploring,  as  he  felt,  a  terra  incognita,  but  he  was  also 
using  every  device  at  his  command  for  making  clear  his  argu- 
ment. Such  conscientious  and  unremitting  toil  as  he  endured 
at  this  time  certainly  deserved  its  reward,  so  we  are  glad  to 
record  that  the  reception  of  his  writings  in  this  period  was  in 
general  favorable :  his  poems  gained  him  recognition  from  the 
government;  some  of  his  acute  and  just  political  tracts  were 
widely  read;  and  though  most  of  his  plays  were  damned,  one 
at  least  made  a  hit.  Most  important  of  all,  his  critical  writings 
were  deservedly  recognized  by  his  contemporaries  as  among  the 
most  valuable  produced  in  England  during  the  first  decade  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 

Regarding  his  private  life  of  these  years,  the  principal  event 
to  be  noted  is  that  while  suffering  in  body,1  Dennis  was 

1  Preface  to  Britannia  Triumphans,  1 704. 

32 


33 

lightened  in  spirits  by  his  appointment  in  1705  as  one  of  the 
royal  waiters  in  the  London  Custom  House.  This  small 
sinecure,  which  paid  £  52  per  annum,2  was  obtained  through 
the  intercession  of  Buckingham  with  Marlborough  and 
Godolphin,  whose  attention  was  directed  by  him  to  Dennis's 
recently  published  poem  on  the  battle  of  Blenheim.  There  was 
a  delay  between  the  promise  of  reward  and  its  fulfillment, 
which  drew  a  tactful  reminder  from  the  poet  to  Marlborough  ;3 
but  finally,  on  the  sixth  of  June,  1705,  came  the  appointment 
by  royal  sign  manual  warrant.  Dennis  held  this  waitership 
for  about  ten  years,  being  reappointed  after  the  accession  of 
George  I  by  a  royal  sign  manual  warrant  dated  March  17, 
1714.  We  shall  notice  later  his  disposal  of  the  office. 

Of  his  friends  and  associates  during  these  ten  years  we 
possess  little  definite  information.  He  lived  on  peaceable 
terms  with  Congreve  and  Wycherley,  Addison  and  Steele, 
retained  the  interest  of  Buckingham,  Lansdowne,  and  Hali- 
fax,4 and  gained  the  patronage  of  Anthony  Henley5  and  of 
William,  Duke  of  Devonshire.  To  the  peer  last  named,  whose 
vocation  was  politics,  and  whose  avocations  were  cock  fighting, 
horse  racing,  and  letters,  Dennis  addressed  the  Monument,  his 
poem  on  the  death  of  King  William.  The  author's  statement 
that  he  had  "long  desired  to  lay  something  at  his  Grace's 
feet,"  but  that  he  had  been  held  in  awe  by  his  patron's  dis- 
cernment, is  no  mere  compliment,  for  Devonshire  was  a  good 
scholar  with  a  taste  that  justified  Lord  Roscommon  in  en- 
trusting his  poems  to  him  for  correction.  To  Henley,  his 
other  new  patron  of  these  years,  who  is  to  be  remembered  as 
the  companion  of  Dorset  and  Sunderland,  as  well  as  the 

2  It  has  sometimes  been  stated  that  this  office  yielded  £120  per  annum. 
See,  however,  infra,  p.  — ,  n. 

8  Original  Letters,  p.  26.  In  the  fourth  volume  of  Gibber's  Lives  of  the 
Poets,  p.  215,  occurs  the  statement,  based  upon  the  authority  of  a  Mr. 
Coxeter,  that  Marlborough  gave  Dennis  a  reward  of  one  hundred  guineas 
for  his  poem  on  the  battle  of  Blenheim.  Such  a  gift,  however,  would 
certainly  have  been  unusual  for  the  avaritious  Marlborough. 

*  Original  Letters,  pp.  106,  363. 

5  Henley  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  Whigs  to  recognize  Swift  after  the 
publication  of  the  Tale  of  a  Tub.    The  Purcells  also  received  his  patronage, 
and  to  him  Garth  dedicated  the  Dispensary. 
4 


34 

benefactor  of  Addison,  Dennis  dedicated  his  most  successful 
play,  Liberty  Asserted.  The  author  states  in  the  preface  that 
the  hint  for  the  play  came  from  Henley,  "whom  [he]  had 
sometimes  had  the  honour  to  hear  talk  of  criticism;"  and  he 
adds  that  the  success  of  the  drama  would  have  been  greater,  if 
he  might  have  written  under  his  patron's  direction,  a  bit  of 
praise  that  was  doubtless  pleasing  to  this  free  handed  bene- 
factor of  poets,  who  received  so  many  "  soft  dedications." 

But  the  list  of  new  friends  and  associates  is  not  a  long  one, 
for  by  the  time  of  his  appointment  to  the  sinecure  Dennis  had 
not  only  ceased  striving  to  be  known  as  a  man  of  the  town,  but 
had  even  "retired  from  the  world."  The  cause  of  such  a 
step  is  hard  to  conjecture,  especially  as  it  came  at  the  time  of 
his  recognition  by  the  government  and  of  his  greatest  success 
as  a  playwright.  The  passage  throwing  most  light  upon  this 
affair  appears  in  a  letter  dated  August  6,  1720,  and  addressed 
to  the  Reverend  Mr.  Mansell,  concerning  some  business  trouble 
between  Dennis  and  his  brother-in-law,  in  which  the  latter 
accuses  the  former  of  acting  unjustly:6 

"  I  was  till  five  and  forty  plung'd  in  the  Conversation  of  the  great  World, 
and  was  every  Day  in  Company  with  Gentlemen,  who  are  universally  known 
to  be  Men  of  no  ordinary  Merit,  who  wanted  no  Discernment  to  know  me, 
and  who  have  several  of  them  given  in  publick  proofs  of  their  Esteem  for 
me.  Now  if  I  mistake  not,  before  the  age  of  forty  five  the  Manners  of 
Men  are  unalterably  formed.  For  these  last  fifteen  Years  I  have  retir'd 
from  the  World,  and  confin'd  my  Conversation  to  3  or  4  of  my  old  Ac- 
quaintance who  are  publickly  known  to  be  men  of  Honour  and  Under- 
standing. Can  any  reasonable  Man  believe  that  I,  who  while  I  was  con- 
versant with  the  World  kept  my  Reputation  clear,  should  be  a  Villain  in 
Solitude  ?  " 

By  "retiring  from  the  world,"  however,  Dennis  did  not 
mean  to  imply  that  he  had  severed  all  connection  with  the 
republic  of  letters ;  for  at  the  time  he  wrote  the  above  lines,  he 
was  engaged  in  one  of  his  bitterest  literary  quarrels.  It  was 
rather  that  the  old  generation  of  men  about  town  was  giving 
place  to  a  younger  set,  and  that  Dennis  in  passing  the  half 
century  mark  was  then  ready  for  the  quieter  life  of  an  old 
man.  It  is  difficult  always  to  maintain  a  just  perspective  of 
his  life,  for  he  was  thirty-five  before  he  published  anything 

6  Original  Letters,  p.  46. 


35 

and  fifty-five  before  he  engaged  in  the  first  of  the  many  fierce 
broils  by  which  he  is  commonly  remembered. 

One  of  the  old  friends  with  whom  he  maintained  relations 
after  this  retirement  was  Charles  Gildon,  who  later  gave  the 
following  hint  of  their  customary  life:7 

"  Your  letters  have  of  late  been  full  of  complaints  that  you  can  never 
find  me  at  home;  and  that  you  every  day  miss  me  at  our  usual  place  of 
Rendezvous,  where  we  so  frequently,  with  no  vulgar  pleasure,  offer  our 
modest  libations  to  Bacchus  amidst  our  more  plentiful  sacrifices  to  Appolo." 

There  were,  however,  other  and  more  serious  demands  upon 
Dennis's  resources;  for  though  the  early  biographies  furnish 
no  material  for  surmising  their  nature,  beyond  a  few  vague 
hints  at  extravagance,  his  expenditures  exceeded  his  income. 
Possibly  a  statement  in  one  of  his  letters8  that  his  purse  had 
always  been  open  to  the  needs  of  his  friends  may  help  in 
accounting  for  the  disappearance  of  the  estate  of  the  critic  who 
prided  himself  on  his  contempt  for  money  matters.  What- 
ever be  the  true  explanation,  about  six  years  after  his  appoint- 
ment to  the  waitership,  Dennis  complained9  that  Pope  had 
attacked  him  at  a  time  "when  all  the  world  knew  that  he 
was  persecuted  by  Fortune";  and  this  impecuniosity  was 
doubtless  the  cause  of  his  letter  on  urgent  business  to  Steele,10 
who,  it  seems,  neglected  to  answer.  But  speculation  concern- 
ing these  affairs  with  such  a  slender  basis  of  fact  is  decidedly 
futile,  so  we  may  well  pass  to  a  consideration  of  such  informa- 
tion with  regard  to  Dennis's  life  as  is  conveyed  by  his  writings. 

In  celebrating  in  verse  the  great  national  events  of  the  time, 
especially  the  victories  of  Marlborough  which  were  then 
thrilling  and  exalting  the  nation,  Dennis  was,  of  course,  simply 

T  Complete  Art  of  Poetry,  1718,  iii. 

8  Original  Letters,  p.  46. 

9  Preface  to  the  Reflections  upon  the  Essay  on  Criticism,  1711. 

10  In  July,  1710,  Dennis  wrote  thus  to  Steele:    "I  sent  a  Letter  on  the 
28th  to  your  House,  Directed  to  Captain  Steele,  and  desiring  to  see  him 
that  Night,  that  I  might  have  his  Advice  upon  Business  of   Importance, 
softly  intimating  at  the  same  Time,  that  it  was  not  in  my  Power  to  wait  on 
him.     But  having  neither  seen  him  nor  heard  from  him,  I  fancy  that  my 
old  Friend  is  departed,  and  some  other  Gentleman  has  succeeded  him  in 
the  old  House,  with  the  same  Name,  and  with  the  same  Martial  Title." 
Original  Letters,  p.  28. 


36 

following  the  custom  of  the  poets  and  poetasters  of  the  day.  He 
recognized  what  an  aid  to  preferment  good  occasional  poems 
might  prove,  and  in  this  decade  he  took  advantage  of  these 
important  events  to  exercise  his  "genius  for  the  Pindarick." 
In  1702  he  published  the  earliest  of  his  patriotic  effusions  of 
this  period,  the  Monument:  A  Poem  sacred  to  the  Immortal 
Memory  of  the  Best  and  Greatest  of  Kings,  William  the 
Third.11  Its  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  lines  of  blank  verse 
are  a  strange  mixture  of  "  transport "  with  serious  argument  to 
prove  that  William  accomplished  more  through  his  love  of 
liberty  than  Caesar  did  through  ambition.  The  author  was 
totally  unconscious  of  any  incongruity  in  his  treatment,  for  he 
declared  in  the  preface  that  he  had  "less  mistrust"  of  these 
verses  than  of  anything  else  he  had  "  done  in  Poetry."  Else- 
where12 Dennis  stated  that  the  Monument  brought  him  no 
reward,  but  that  it  gained  him  more  fame  than  any  of  his 
previous  poems. 

Two  years  later,  I7O4,13  he  published  a  longer  and  more  pre- 
tentious performance,  Brittania  Triumphans;  or,  a  Poem  on 
the  Battle  of  Blenheim,  which  was  dedicated  to  Queen  Anne, 
for  she  had  inspired  it.  Dennis  had  desired  to  write  a  poem 
on  the  battle,  but  had  been  uncertain  what  form  it  should 
take  till  the  Queen  proclaimed  a  general  thanksgiving  for  the 
victory.  He  seized  upon  the  hint  thus  suggested  for  combin- 
ing poetry  and  religion  and  gave  these  verses  laudatory  of  the 
Queen  and  Marlborough  a  setting  of  praise  and  rejoicing. 
Though  Dennis's  Blenheim  contains,  of  course,  no  such 
passages  as  the  famous  one  of  the  angel  and  the  storm  in 
Addison's  description  of  the  same  battle,  it  ranks  as  one  of 
the  best  of  the  numerous  poems  evoked  by  the  victory.1* 
These  verses,  which  were  generally  regarded  as  his  most  suc- 
cessful,15 brought  him  the  greatest  reward  he  ever  received,  for 

"Advertised  in  the  Term  Catalogues  for  June,  1702. 

12  Preface  to  Liberty  Asserted,  1704. 

33  Advertised  in  the  Term  Catalogues  for  November,  1704. 

14  Of  the  other  poems  upon  this  battle  two  of  the  best  known  are  those 
by  Prior  and  by  John  Philips,  neither  of  which  is  noteworthy.  See  also 
Macaulay's  Essay  on  Addison,  Works  (New  York,  1860),  V,  354. 

"Giles  Jacob,  the  Poetical  Register:  or  the  Lives  and  Characters  of  all 
our  English  Poets.  With  an  Account  of  their  Writings,  London,  1723,  II, 


37 

Maryborough  possibly  gave  him  a  hundred  guineas16  and  was 
partly  responsible  for  Halifax's  securing  for  him  the 
waitership.17 

Encouraged  by  such  substantial  recognition,  Dennis  com- 
posed in  1707  his  longest  and  most  pretentious  verses,  A  Poem 
on  the  Battle  of  Ramillies.  In  Five  Books.  The  plan  of  this 
poem  was,  as  he  himself  perceived,  decidedly  daring;  for  the 
powers  of  Satan  and  Discord  are  here  represented  as  con- 
spiring for  the  French  against  Marlborough.  Heaven  itself 
holds  a  council  and  sends  the  Angel  of  Concord,  who  protects 
him  from  all  that  is  bad  and  thus  brings  victory  to  the  English. 
Dennis  was  now  profiting  from  his  admiration  for  Milton,  for 
this  long  and  somewhat  tiresome  effusion  was  an  obvious 
though  not  very  successful  imitation  of  Paradise  Lost. 

From  time  to  time  through  these  years  Dennis  contributed 
some  slight  verses  to  the  contemporary  ephemeral  publications, 
the  most  notable  apearing  in  the  Muses  Mercury  which  strug- 
gled along  through  the  year  1707  under  the  editorship  of  John 
Oldmixon.  In  1698,  Dennis  had  written  a  prologue  for  Old- 
mixon's  Amyntas,  a  Pastoral,  and  during  the  following  years 
the  two  had  remained  good  friends,  so  Dennis  was  naturally 
asked  to  contribute  to  this  new  publication.  In  the  January 
number  of  this  magazine  he  printed  his  Prologue  for  the 
Subscribers  to  Julius  Caesar,  Supposed  to  be  spoken  by  Shakes- 
pere,  which  was  written  for  the  performances  supported  by 
Halifax.18  To  the  April  issue  he  contributed  a  Song — Till 

Lord   Halifax   proposed   a   subscription   for   reviving   3   plays   of   the 
best  authors  with  the  full  strength  of  the  Company;  and  by  his  influence 
it  was   soon   completed — each   subscriber  was   to   have   3   Tickets   for  the 
first  day  of  each  play  upon  his  single  payment  of  3  Guineas  (Gibber.)'  " 
Genest,  Some  Account  of  the  English  Stage,  II,  363. 

260.  Also  Ayre,  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Alexander  Pope 
Esquire,  London,  1745,  I,  51. 

"Gibber's  Lives  of  the  Poets,  IV,  216.  But  the  account  of  Dennis  there 
given  is  in  some  other  respects  untrustworthy,  so  we  may  question  this 
statement  till  it  is  supported  by  some  further  evidence. 

17  Possibly  Dennis's  success  at  this  time  with  his  play  Liberty  Asserted 
may  also  have  influenced  Godolphin. 

'"Jan.  14.  For  the  encouragement  of  the  Comedians  acting  in  the  Hay., 
and  to  enable  them  to  keep  the  diversion  of  plays  under  a  separate  interest 
from  the  operas  ...  By  Subscription  .  .  .  with  a  new  Prologue. 


38 

death  I  Sylvia  shall  adore,  which  shows  a  lighter  touch  than 
does  most  of  his  verse.  The  following  year,  1708,  the  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  Miscellanies  contained  the  Character  of  a  True 
Friend,  another  of  his  short  pieces,  which,  though  revealing 
something  of  the  writer's  tastes  and  ideals,  is  quite  valueless  as 
poetry. 

Dennis  also  busied  himself  with  a  few  translations,  to  illus- 
trate in  practice  his  belief  in  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
a  union  of  poetry  and  religion,  a  doctrine  which  he  strongly 
advocated  during  these  years.  Such  a  poem  is  his  paraphrase 
of  the  Te  Deum  of  St.  Ambrose,  which  appeared  in  his  Ad- 
vancement and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  1701,  where 
he  formally  promulgated  his  doctrine.  This  version  of  St. 
Ambrose's  famous  hymn,  which  became  fairly  popular,  was 
given  a  prominent  place  in  a  Collection  of  Divine  Hymns  and 
Poems19  in  1709  and  was  also  later  included  in  Dennis's 
Works.  As  further  practical  exemplifications  of  his  theory 
Dennis  produced  in  these  years  his  blank  verse  version  of  the 
eighteenth  Psalm  and  a  short  paraphrase  from  Habakkuk, 
both  of  which  first  appeared  in  the  Grounds  of  Criticism  in 
Poetry,  1704. 

While  busy  with  these  poems,  Dennis  was  also  writing  for 
the  stage.  Though  he  had  stated  and  restated  that  his  chief 
purpose  in  writing  his  plays  was  to  fan  the  fires  of  liberty, 
he  had  also  declared  that  the  drama  was  the  single  field  of 
letters  offering  a  livelihood  to  a  poet ;  and  as  his  needs  pressed 
harder  and  harder  upon  him,  he  grew  more  and  more  solicitous 
about  the  receipts  of  the  third  night.  His  first  play  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  produced  some  time  in  1702,  was  the 
Comical  Gallant;  or  the  Amours  of  Sir  John  Falstaff™  an 
alteration  of  the  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor.  Revising  Shaks- 

19  A  Collection  of  Divine  Hymns  and  Poems  upon  Several  Occasions,  By 
the  E.  of  Roscommon,  Mr.  Dryden,  Mr.  Dennis,  Mr.  Norris,  Mrs.  Kath. 
Phillips,  Philomela,  and  others,  London,  1709.  This  volume  was  reprinted 
in  1719. 

*The  Comical  Gallant;  or  the  Amours  of  Sir  John  Falstaff.  A  Comedy 
as  it  is  Acted  at  the  Theatre  Royal  in  Drury  Lane  by  his  Majesty's  Ser- 
vants By  Mr.  Dennis  To  which  is  Added  a  Large  Account  of  the  Taste 
in  Poetry,  and  the  Causes  of  the  Degeneracy  of  it,  London,  1702. 


pere's  plays  was  at  this  time  a  very  popular  practice  among 
dramatists :  in  1700  Dennis's  friend  Gildon  had  met  with  some 
small  success  in  altering  Measure  for  Measure;  and  the  next 
year  Lord  Lansdowne,  one  of  our  author's  patrons,  produced 
an  adaptation  of  the  Merchant  of  Venice?*  Urged  by  the 
example  of  these  friends,  Dennis  revised  the  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor,  which,  he  tells  us,  had  been  extremely  popular  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  II.22  He  believed  the  play  capable  of  im- 
provement, for  he  considered  the  plot  irregular  and  the  style 
stiff  and  harsh,  though  he  excused  these  faults  on  the  ground 
that  in  writing  so  hastily23  Shakspere  had  done  all  that  any 
man  could  do.  In  his  alterations  Dennis  attempted  to  reduce 
this  play  to  a  sweet  reasonableness  by  polishing  and  refining 
about  a  half  of  the  dialogue  and  by  making  every  thing  in  the 
plot  instrumental  to  Fenton's  marriage.  This  adaptation,  how- 
ever, fared  worse  than  almost  any  other  play  by  Dennis,  who 
explained  its  failure  thus:24 

"  Falstaff's  part,  which  you  know  to  be  a  principal  one  in  the  play,  and 
that  on  which  almost  all  the  rest  depends,  was  by  no  means  acted  to  the 

21  The  following  list  of  alterations  of  Shakespere  from  1700-1703  is 
given  in  Professor  Lounsbury's  Shakespere  as  a  Dramatic  Artist,  N.  Y., 
1901,  p.  302: 

King  Henry  IV,  Part  I,  by  Betterton,  1700. 

King  Henry  IV,  Part  II,  by  Betterton  (not  published  till  1719). 

King  Richard  III,  by  Colley  Gibber,  1700. 

Measure  for  Measure,  or  Beauty  the  Best  Advocate,  by  Gildon,  1700. 

The  Jew  of  Venice  [The  Merchant  of  Venice]  by  George  Granville 
[Lord  Lansdowne],  1701. 

The  Comical  Gallant;  or  the  Amours  of  Sir  John  Falstaff,  by  Dennis, 
1702. 

Love  Betrayed,  or  the  Agreeable  Disappointment  [Twelfth  Night],  by 
Burnaby,  1703. 

22 "  ...  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  the  Second,  those  men  of  extra- 
ordinary parts,  as  the  late  Duke  of  Buckingham,  my  Lord  Normanby,  my 
Lord  Dorset,  my  late  Lord  Rochester,  Sir  Charles  Sedley,  Dr.  Frazer,  Mr. 
Savil,  Mr.  Buckley,  were  in  love  with  the  Beauties  of  this  Comedy." 
Preface  to  the  Comical  Gallant. 

23  "John  Dennis  first  mentioned  in  print  the  story  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
having  commanded  Shakspere  to  write  this  comedy."     Ward's  History  of 
English  Dramatic  Literature,  1899,  II,  137. 

24  Preface  to  the  Comical  Gallant. 


40 

satisfaction  of  the  audience;25  upon  which  several  fell  from  disliking  the 
Action  into  disliking  the  Play,  which  will  always  be  very  natural  upon  such 
occasions,  though  sometimes  not  very  reasonable,  and  divers  Objections 
were  made,  which  if  the  Play  had  succeeded  had  perhaps  never  been 
thought  of." 

In  May  of  the  same  year,  1702,  Dennis  published  the  play 
with  a  preface  to  Granville  and  a  prefatory  essay  entitled  A 
Large  Account  of  the  Taste  in  Poetry  and  the  Causes  of  the 
Degeneracy  of  It.  This  preface,  with  its  thoughtful  com- 
parison of  contemporary  conditions  affecting  taste  with  those 
of  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  is  especially  interesting  as  reveal- 
ing how  closely  Dennis  was  watching  the  currents  of  national 
life. 

Such  a  record  of  total  or  partial  failures  would  have  dis- 
couraged most  dramatists;  but  Dennis  was  made  of  other 
stuff,  so  on  February  24,  1704,  he  made  his  fifth  venture  with 
his  tragedy  Liberty  Asserted26  and  succeeded.  The  popularity 
of  this  play  was  due  in  large  measure  to  its  abuse  of  the 
French.27  The  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  had  been  wear- 

26  In  the  Apology  for  his  Life,  1 740,  Gibber  suggests  that  Bullock  was  the 
offending  actor.     Bellchamber  expresses  a  doubt  in  his  note  at  this  point 
whether  "Bullock's  position  would  entitle  him  to  play  that  part  in   1702." 
Genest  suggests   (II,  250)  that  Powell  was  the  delinquent. 

26 Liberty  Asserted:  a  Tragedy,  as  it  was  acted  in  the  New  Theatre  in 
Lincoln' s-Inn-F elds,  London,  1704. 

27  Party  feeling,  which  ran  very  high  at  this  time,  probably  helped  in  the 
invention  and  circulation  of  two  stories  about  Dennis  which  have  shown 
remarkable  vitality.     One  of  these  stories  appeared  in  the  Life  of  Mr.  John 
Dennis,  p.  23 :    "  The   author's  fondness   for  this   Play,   together  with  the 
Success  of  it,  if  we  may  believe  some  of  his  sneering  Enemies,  who  are 
for  turning  every  thing  of   Importance  into    Ridicule,   almost  touched   his 
Brain ;   for  they  gave  out  that  he  imagined   the  French   King,   Lewis   the 
Fourteenth,  was  very  much  offended  at  it,  that  he  would  never  make  Peace 
with  England,   unless   the   delivering  up    of   Mr.    Dennis   was    one    of   the 
Articles  of  it.    And  that  being  once  at  a  Gentleman's  House  near  the  Coasts 
of  Sussex,  as  he  was  walking  by  the  Seaside  one  morning,  he  'spied  a  ship, 
making,   as  he  thought,   toward   him,   which   he  immediately   apprehending 
to  be  a   Privateer,  he  made  his  way   to  London,   even   in   his   Gown   and 
Slippers,  as  he  was,  without  taking  leave  of  his  Friend,  whom  he  accus'd 
of  a  villainous  Design  of  decoying  him  down  to  his  House,  that  he  might 
deliver  him  to  the  French." 

The  other  story  is  given  in  Gibber's  Lives  of  the  Poets  (i753),  IV,  221: 


41 

ing  along;  and  in  spite  of  the  brilliant  achievements  of  Marl- 
borough,  there  was  growing  through  England  a  strong  senti- 
ment for  peace,  compelling  the  Whigs  to  seize  every  oppor- 
tunity for  keeping  alive  the  national  prejudice  against  the 
French.  Consequently  they  were  willing  and  ready  to  applaud 
a  tragedy  which  showed  one  of  the  enemy's  generals  in 
Canada  denouncing  Louis  as  a  tyrant  and  setting  up  a  kingdom 
friendly  to  the  English.  Dennis  protested  in  his  preface  that 
this  tragedy  was  not  a  whig  but  an  English  play  and  in  sup- 
port of  his  statement  included  in  the  published  version  a  last 
scene  of  exhortation  to  "  stronger  public  spiritedness,"  which, 
on  account  of  the  length  of  the  drama,  had  been  omitted  in 
the  acting.  The  attitude  of  the  play,  however,  is  whiggish; 
and  the  hint  for  its  composition  came  from  that  very  good 
partisan  Anthony  Henley,  to  whom  Dennis  addressed  his  dedi- 
cation. The  author  also  acknowledged  his  indebtedness  for 
assistance  from  his  friend  Southerne  and  from  Betterton,  who 
acted  one  of  the  leading  parts  and  was  also  instrumental  in 
securing  a  very  strong  cast,  which  included  Booth,  Powell, 
Bowman,  Mrs.  Bracegirdle,  Mrs.  Porter,  and  Mrs.  Barry. 
The  work  of  the  actress  last  named  so  pleased  the  author  that 
he  took  occasion  in  the  preface  to  bestow  upon  her  this  special 
commendation : 

"  This  play  indeed  received  all  the  Grace  and  Ornament  of  Action  in 
most  of  its  principal  Parts,  and  in  all  of  the  Women's.     But  that  of  Sakia 

"...  when  the  Peace  was  about  to  be  ratified,  Mr.  Dennis,  who  certainly 
over-rated  his  importance,  took  it  into  his  imagination,  that  when  the  terms 
of  the  peace  should  be  stipulated,  some  persons,  who  had  been  most  active 
against  the  French,  would  be  demanded  by  that  nation  as  hostages ;  and  he 
imagined  himself  of  importance  enough  to  be  made  choice  of,  but  dreaded 
his  being  given  up  to  the  French  as  the  greatest  evil  that  could  befall  him. 
Under  the  influence  of  this  strong  delusion,  he  actually  waited  upon  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough,  and  begged  his  Grace's  interposition,  that  he  might 
not  be  sacrificed  to  the  French,  for  says  he,  '  I  have  always  been  their 
enemy.'  To  this  very  strange  request,  his  Grace  very  gravely  replied,  *  Do 
not  fear,  Mr.  Dennis,  you  shall  not  be  given  up  to  the  French ;  I  have  been 
a  greater  enemy  to  them  than  you,  and  you  see  that  I  am  not  afraid  of 
being  sacrificed,  nor  am  I  in  the  least  disturbed.'  Mr.  Dennis  upon  this 
retired,  well  satisfied  with  his  Grace's  answer." 

Swift,  too,  gives  the  first  of  these  stories  in  his  Thoughts  on  Various 
Subjects,  Scott's  edition  of  his  Works,  IX,  238. 


42 

by  Mrs.  Barry  was  acted  so  admirably  and  so  inimitably,  as  that  no  Stage 
in  Europe  can  boast  of  any  thing  near  her  performance ;  " 

This  tragedy  was  published  by  Stratham  and  Lintot,  the 
latter  paying  the  former,  on  February  3,  1703/4,  £  7  s.  3  for  a 
half  share,  and  three  weeks  later  purchasing  the  other  half  at 
the  same  price.28  On  May  2,  1707,  the  play  was  revived  for 
Mrs.  Porter's  benefit;  and  Dennis  took  advantage  of  this 
occasion  to  send  to  his  patron  Godolphin  a  copy  of  this  tragedy 
as  "  the  first  British  play/'  that  is,  the  first  one  acted  after  the 
confirmation  of  the  Union  with  Scotland,  in  which  his  Lordship 
had  been  instrumental.  Thirty-five  years  later,  May  24,  1742, 
the  play  was  again  produced,  this  time  at  Covent  Garden. 

Dennis's  greatest  success  was  followed  the  next  year  by  what 
was  probably  his  worst  failure,  Gibraltar,  or  the  Spanish  Ad- 
venture, a  Comedy.  This  play,  which  was  staged  a  few 
months  after  the  capture  of  the  great  fortress,  portrays  an 
intrigue  of  two  British  officers  by  which  they  win  two  senoritas 
from  an  avaricious  and  cowardly  old  uncle.  Dennis  himself 
realized  that  his  treatment  of  the  subject  was  not  a  very  happy 
one,  and  he  pleaded  in  excuse  that  he  was  too  much  exhausted 
by  the  long  poem  Blenheim,  which  he  had  just  written,  to 
produce  "anything  for  the  Stage  like  a  Masterpiece."29  Nor 
were  the  circumstances  of  the  production  of  the  play  less 
unfortunate  than  those  of  its  composition.  After  a  series  of 
delays  and  disastrous  rehearsals  Gibraltar  was  given  at  Drury 
Lane  on  the  sixteenth  of  February,  1705,  and  met  with  a  storm 
of  hisses  and  cat  calls.30  Four  days  later  appeared  an  altera- 
tion of  the  play  which  failed  so  decisively  that  it  was  at  once 
withdrawn,  thus  losing  for  Dennis  the  returns  of  the  third, 
or  author's,  night.  Just  what  was  the  cause  of  this  failure, 
which  seems  even  more  ignominious  than  the  lack  of  merit  in 

*  Nichols's  Literary  Anecdotes  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  London, 
1814,  VIII,  295. 

29  Preface  to  Gibraltar. 

80  The  Critical  Specimen,  1715,  giving  the  outline  of  an  imaginary  life  of 
Dennis,  suggests  as  the  heading  of  a  chapter  (p.  12),  "Of  the  Bombard- 
ment of  Gibraltar,  and  how  several  Chiefs  engaged  in  that  dreadful  enter- 
prise were,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Arms,  almost  pelted  to  Death  with 
Apples  and  Orange-Peel." 


43 

the  play  warranted,  is  hard  to  conjecture,  even  in  the  light  of 
the  following  passage  from  Dennis's  preface: 

"  This  Play  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  find  the  Town  out  of  Humor  with 
it,  whether  it  proceeded  from  the  calamities  which  attended  the  Re- 
hearsal, which  were  so  numerous  as  had  never  befallen  a  play  in  my 
memory,  or  from  the  Malice  and  strange  Prejudices  with  which  many 
came  prepossess'd.  The  first  day  it  was  well  acted  in  most  of  its  Parts, 
but  was  not  suffer'd  to  be  heard.  The  second  day  it  was  faintly  and 
negligently  acted,  and  consequently  was  not  seen ;  " 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,31  the  failure  was  so 
disastrous  that  when  Dennis  sent  his  biography  for  Jacob's 
Poetical  Register,  twenty  years  later,  he  omitted  any  mention 
of  this  comedy,82  nor  did  he  include  it  in  his  Works.  Evi- 
dently the  misfortunes  of  the  play  were  long  remembered,  for 
in  one  of  the  pamphlets  directed  against  Dennis  in  his  war  with 
Steele,  about  1720,  appeared  the  taunt,33  "And  pray  let  us 
know  what  was  the  reason  we  did  not  see  your  '  Gibraltar ' 
printed  with  the  rest  of  your  Works,"  a  query  which  Dennis 
ignored. 

To  this  same  busy  year,  1705,  Mr.  Roberts,  in  his  careful 
article  on  Dennis  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography, 
attributes  another  mutilation  of  Shakspere.  His  statement 
reads  thus:  "In  1705  he  brought  out  the  'Invader  of  his 
Country,  or  the  Fatal  Resentment,'  founded  on  '  Coriolanus/ 
which  languished  at  Drury-Lane  for  three  or  four  nights." 
The  present  writer  has  not  been  able  to  discover  any  record 
of  such  performances  either  in  Genest  or  elsewhere.  The 
first  reference  he  has  found  is  the  following,  probably  by 
Pope,  in  the  Narrative  of  Dr.  R.  Norris  concerning  the  Frenzy 
of  Mr.  J.  Dennis,  1713 :3*  "Mr.  John  Dennis  has  industriously 
caused  it  to  be  reported  that  I  entered  his  room,  in  et  armis, 
either  with  a  design  to  deprive  him  of  life,  or  of  a  new  play 

81  Later  in  the  preface  Dennis  states  that  the  play  had  been  criticized 
on  the  ground  that  "  the  Character  of  this  Comedy  is  low,  and  that  there 
is  neither  very  much  Wit,  nor  Love,  nor  Gallantry  in  it." 

82 "  In  the  Account  this  Gentleman  sent  he  omitted,  but  for  what  Reason 
is  unknown  to  us,  a  Play  wrote  by  him,  call'd  Gibraltar,  or  The  Spanish 
Adventure ;  a  Comedy,  acted  at  the  Theatre-Royal  in  Drury-Lane."  Jacob's 
Poetical  Register,  ed.  1723,  II,  286. 

88  The  Theatre,  II,  397. 

84  Pope's  Works,  X,  460. 


44 

called  '  Coriolanus/  which  he  has  had  ready  for  the  stage  for 
four  years."  This  passage  indicates  that  Dennis's  unsuc- 
cessful efforts  to  interest  a  manager  in  his  adaptation  were 
well  known.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  near  the  close  of  the 
second  decade  of  the  century  the  Invader  was  produced  at 
Drury-Lane  by  Steele,  Booth,  and  Gibber,  who  would  hardly 
have  revived  the  play,  if  it  had  been  already  damned.  Further- 
more, though  all  of  Dennis's  other  dramas  were  published  soon 
after  their  production  on  the  stage,  the  Invader  did  not  appear 
in  print  till  1720,  the  year  after  its  failure  in  performance  at 
Drury-Lane.  The  next  year,  1721,  Dennis  added  it  to  the 
revised  edition  of  his  Works,  which  had  been  first  published 
in  1717. 

In  February,  1707,  Dennis  printed  in  the  Muses  Mercury 
his  masque  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice.  Though  the  myth  here 
treated  was  a  popular  one  with  the  dramatists  of  the  early 
eighteenth  century,35  and  this  particular  version  was  well  set 
to  music  by  Daniel  Purcell,  it  is  probable  that  the  masque  was 
never  staged.36 

Two  years  later,  February  5,  I7CX),37  Dennis  brought  out  at 
Drury-Lane  his  last  original  play,  Appius  and  Virginia.  He 
began  this  tragedy,  which  deals  with  the  well  known  story  in 
the  third  book  of  Livy,  in  1705,  but  he  did  not  complete  it 
beyond  the  fourth  act  before  August,  I7o8.38  Maynwaring,39 
who  saw  the  play  in  manuscript,  prophesied  that  it  would  be 
the  best  "  Tragedy  that  had  appeared  these  many  years ; "  and 

85  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  a  Masque,  by  Martin  Bladen,   1705. 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  A  Dramatic  Entertainment  of  Dancing,  At- 
tempted in  Imitation  of  the  Ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  by  J.  Weaver', 
Drury  Lane,  1718. 

Eurydice,  a  Tragedy,  by  Mr.   Mallet,   1731. 

88 "  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  a  masque,  with  little  merit  and  no  success 
followed  in  1709."  Dibdin's  Complete  History  of  the  Stage,  1800,  IV, 
359.  The  date  here  given  is  incorrect  for  the  time  of  publication  at 
least,  while  the  statement  of  "  no  success  "  still  leaves  it  doubtful  whether 
the  masque  was  ever  performed. 

87  The  published  edition  of  the  play  is  included  in  the  Term  Catalogues 
for  Easter  and  Trinity,  1709. 

38  Original  Letters,  pp.  115,  131. 

w  Supra. 


45 

the  actor  Betterton,  too,  thought  well  of  this  "  rough,  manly 
play,"  in  which  he  took  what  was  probably  his  last  original 
part.40  These  favorable  expectations,  however,  were  not 
realized,  so  after  a  run  of  four  or  five  nights  the  tragedy  was 
withdrawn.41  At  present  the  play  is  generally  remembered  in 
connection  with  the  origin  of  the  phrase  "  Stealing  thunder,"42 
and  as  offering  the  place  of  first  attack  against  its  author  by 
Pope  in  his  Essay  on  Criticism.  The  following  lines  of  that 
essay  were  all  too  obviously  aimed  at  Dennis: 

"...  Appius  reddens  at  each  word  you  speak, 
And  stares  tremendous  with  a  threatening  eye, 
Like  some  fierce  giant  in  old  tapistry."43 

Dennis  was,  of  course,  furious,  at  this  "attack  upon  [his] 
person  "  and  replied  in  his  Reflections  upon  .  .  .  an  Essay  on 
Criticism;  but  the  discussion  of  this  conflict  carries  us  beyond 
the  bounds  of  the  present  section.  After  the  failure  of  Appius 
and  Virginia  Dennis  wrote  no  more  plays,  though  he  was  still 
to  see  the  unfortunate  reception  of  the  Invader.  His  record 
as  a  dramatist  is  not  a  happy  one — six  or  seven  semi  or  total 
failures  and  but  one  decided  success — so  it  is  a  relief  to  turn 
to  his  work  as  a  political  pamphleteer,  which  deserves  greater 
commendation. 

40  Ward's   History    of  English   Dramatic   Literature,    1899,    HI,    427- 

41  Nevertheless  the  play  must  have  attained  a  certain  popularity,  or  the 
shrewd   Bernard   Lintot   would   never   have   given    £21    s.io   for  it,    which 
is   the   highest   price   Dennis   is   known   to    have   received   for   any   of   his 
writings.      Cf.    Nichols's   Literary    Anecdotes   of    the    Eighteenth    Century, 
VIII,  295. 

42 "  There  is  another  and  withal  quite  historical  anecdote  in  connection 
with  Appius  and  Virginia.  It  seems  that  the  old  way  of  producing 
artificial  thunder  and  making  mustard  were  identical,  hence  the  reference 
in  the  Dunciad  to  the  '  thunder  rumbling  from  a  mustard  bowl.'  But 
about  the  time  in  question,  the  thunder  was  '  more  advantageously  per- 
formed by  troughs  of  wood  with  stops  in  them.'  Dennis  is  usually  cred- 
ited with  the  improvement ;  and  upon  hearing  thunder  employed  at  a  per- 
formance of  Macbeth  after  his  own  play  had  been  withdrawn,  he  caused 
a  commotion  in  the  theatre  by  denouncing  the  proceedings  of  the  Mana- 
gers, who,  he  alleged,  stole  his  thunder  but  refused  to  act  his  plays." 
Wm.  Roberts  in  the  Bookworm,  IV,  294. 

43  Ft.  Ill,  11.  585  ff. 


46 

It  was  but  natural  that  one  so  ready  with  his  pen  and  pos- 
sessed of  such  a  strong  interest  in  national  affairs  should  have 
taken  to  writing  political  pamphlets,  which,  as  the  precursors 
of  the  modern  newspaper  editorial,  were  then  issuing  rapidly 
from  the  press.  Such  work  was  profitable  to  the  writer  both 
from  the  immediate  return  and  from  the  prospect  of  political 
preferment  which  it  offered.  In  the  power  of  his  pamphlets 
Dennis  was,  with  all  due  respect  to  Swinburne,44  far  inferior 
to  Swift;  but  he  seems  to  have  possessed  greater  intellectual 
honesty  and  a  far  less  bitter  partisanship.  That  Dennis  wrote 
many  political  tracts  which  have  perished  seems  possible  both 
from  the  ephemeral  nature  of  some  of  his  pamphlets,  such  as 
the  Person  of  Quality's  Answer  to  Mr.  Collier,  and  from  the 
fate  of  his  Seamen's  Case,  of  which  nothing  is  known  beyond 
the  fact  that  it  is  mentioned  on  the  title  page  of  the  Essay  on 
the  Navy  as  by  the  same  author.  It  seems  probable  both  from 
the  evidence  just  cited  and  from  its  style  that  the  Essay  on 
the  Navy,  which  bears  the  earliest  date  of  any  of  Dennis's 
extant  tracts,  1702,  was  by  no  means  his  first  venture 
as  a  pamphleteer.45  Moreover,  in  the  dedication  of  this 
tract  to  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  Dennis  alludes  to  the  "Loss, 
Discouragement,  and  Misrepresentations  that  attended"  his 

44  St.  James's  Gazette,  November  8,   1895. 

45  An  Essay   on   the  Navy,   or  England's  Advantage   and  Safety   proved 
Dependent  on  a  Formidable  and  well-Disciplin' d  Navy;  and  the  Encrease 
and  Encouragement  of  Seamen.     In  Two  Parts. 

Part  I.  Demonstrating  the  Necessity  of  a  Formidable  Navy,  what  our 
Naval  Force  is  in  Number  of  Ships,  their  Names,  Rates,  Men,  and  Guns, 
the  Manner  of  Manning  the  Navy ;  the  Seamen's  Treatment  and  Manner 
of  Payment  and  therein  divers  Hardships  that  they  suffer ;  the  Prejudice 
accruing  to  the  Government  (and  the  Nation  in  general)  thereby ;  as 
well  as  the  late  manner  of  Impressing;  the  Inconvenience  thereof  demon- 
strated &. 

Part  II.  Containing  an  humble  Proposal  for  removing  the  afore-men- 
tioned Grievances,  and  giving  due  Encouragement  to  the  Seamen :  effect- 
ually manning  the  Navy  at  all  times,  in  a  few  Days,  and  thereby  saving 
the  Government  Three  or  Four  Hundred  Thousand  Pounds  per  Annum 
in  time  of  War,  and  be  of  no  Charge,  but  rather  save  Monies  in  time 
of  Peace.  With  a  brief  touch  on  Grenwich  Hospital,  for  Encreasing  the 
Revenues  thereof. 

By  the  Author  of  the  Seamen's  Case.     London,   1702. 


47 

"previous  Endeavours."  Our  regret  that  these  pamphlets 
have  perished  is  deepened  by  the  broad  knowledge  of  actual 
conditions  displayed  by  Dennis  in  his  Essay  on  the  Navy, 
which  with  its  unimpassioned  recital  of  abuses  on  the  English 
men  of  war,  supported  by  scores  of  specific  illustrations,  por- 
trays most  vividly  the  corruption  of  the  age.  For  a  number 
of  these  existing  abuses  Dennis  proposed,  as  had  Defoe  five 
years  before,  some  very  sane  remedies,  such  as  a  less  hap- 
hazard scheme  for  enlistment  than  by  impressment,  better  and 
more  regular  pay  for  the  common  seamen,  and  improvements 
in  caring  for  the  sick.  His  large  and  kindly  attitude  in  this 
pamphlet  can  but  cause  us  to  regret  that  he  had  apparently 
little  influence  with  those  in  authority. 

Though  another  of  Dennis's  tracts  bears  the  same  date  as  the 
Essay  on  the  Navy,  it  seems  probable  that  the  latter  appeared 
first,  for  the  author  would  hardly  have  made  complaint  of  the 
loss  and  discouragement  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph 
after  the  hearty  reception  accorded  the  Danger  of  Priestcraft 
to  Religion  and  Government:  with  some  Politick  Reasons  for 
Toleration,  Occasioned  by  a  Discourse  of  Mr.  Sacheverel's 
intitul'd  the  Political  Union  &  lately  printed  at  Oxford.  In  a 
Letter  to  a  New-Elected  Member  of  Parliament.  Sacheverel, 
against  whom  this  short  treatise  was  directed,  was,  of  course,  the 
Oxford  high  church  man  and  tory,  whose  trial,  nearly  a  decade 
later,  through  the  efforts  of  the  whig  ministry,  was  to  result 
in  their  overthrow.  Even  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  he 
had  gained  a  national  reputation  for  fulminating  against  "low 
churchmen,  dissenters,  latitudinarians,  and  whigs"  through 
such  tracts  as  his  Character  of  a  Low  Churchman,  1701,  and 
his  more  intolerant  On  the  Association  of  Moderate  Church- 
men with  Moderate  Whigs  and  Fanatics.  Early  in  June  he 
delivered  a  sermon  on  the  Political  Union,**  in  which  he 
waved  "the  bloody  flag  and  banner  of  defiance"  against  all 
who  refused  to  gather  under  the  high  church  standard.  In  its 
published  form  this  sermon  evoked  two  notable  replies, — 

46  The  Political  Union.  A  discourse  shewing  the  dependence  of  Govern- 
ment on  Religion  in  general:  and  of  the  English  Monarchy  on  the  Church 
of  England  in  particular. 


48 

Defoe's  Shortest  Way  with  the  Dissenters  and  Dennis's 
Danger  of  Priestcraft.  That  the  public  interest  in  this  latter 
pamphlet  was  widespread  is  substantiated  by  its  assailant  the 
Reverend  Charles  Leslie,  who  declared  in  the  preface  to  his 
New  Association  that  "the  Price  Three  Pence  is  put  on  it 
[Dennis's  tract]  in  a  small  Character,  that  it  may  run  cheap 
among  the  Common  People.  .  .  .  And  accordingly  this  Pam- 
phlet is  so  effectively  dispers'd  that  few  of  the  Fanatics  or 
Common  Wealth  Men  want  it  in  their  Pockets,  to  Recommend 
it  everywhere."  Dennis  deserved  all  the  popularity  gained  by 
his  tract,  for  he  had  made  an  able  and  moderate  reply  to 
Sacheverel's  bigotry  and  had  argued  with  convincing  reason- 
ableness for  a  broader  toleration  as  of  particular  advantage 
to  the  established  government  of  England,  especially  after  so 
much  damage  had  been  done  the  country  by  religious  factions 
and  by  priestcraft.  In  striking  contrast,  too,  with  Dennis's 
plain  and  moderate  argument  is  the  "  railing  and  abuse  "47  of 
the  answer  that  soon  appeared  by  the  Reverend  Charles 
Leslie.48  Though  Dennis  afterwards  returned  to  another 
phase  of  the  same  question,  he  took  no  notice  of  Leslie's  reply ; 
and  Leslie,  in  his  turn,  soon  practically  forgot  Dennis. 

In  1703  our  author  published  his  next  political  tract,  A  Pro- 
posal for  Putting  a  Speedy  End  to  the  War,  by  Ruining  the 
Commerce  of  the  French  and  the  Spaniards,  and  securing  our 
own,  without  any  additional  Expense  to  the  Nation.  Possibly 
he  had  in  mind  some  difficulty  in  securing  a  publisher  for  this 
pamphlet,  which  had  been  written  in  1700,  when  he  alluded  in 
the  preface  to  the  Essay  on  the  Navy  to  the  "misrepresenta- 
tions and  discouragements"  he  had  encountered.  The  plan 
suggested  for  ruining  the  enemy's  commerce  was  the  equip- 
ment of  a  fleet  of  two  hundred  privateers,  to  be  chosen  from 
the  English  trading  vessels,  and  to  be  fitted  out  and  maintained 
by  a  small  additional  tariff  on  imports  and  exports.  The 

"Daniel  Defoe,  His  Life  and  Recently  Discovered  Writings,  by  William 
Lee.  London,  1869,  I,  62. 

48  The  New  Association  of  those  called  Moderate-Church-Men,  with  the 
Moderate-Whigs  and  Fanatics,  to  under-mine  and  blow-up  the  Present 
Church  and  Government,  Occasion'd  By  a  Late  Pamphlet,  Entituled,  The 
Danger  of  Priestcraft  &.  By  a  True-Church-Man,  London,  1702. 


49 

unenthusiastic  reception  accorded  this  Proposal  failed  to  shake 
Dennis's  faith  in  its  value;  for  a  year  or  so  later  he  declared 
in  the  preface  to  Liberty  Asserted  that  had  this  plan  been 
followed,  there  "had  been  no  need  of  writing  this  tragedy"  for 
arousing  public  spirit  for  the  war.  He  even  went  so  far,  in 
1706,  as  to  send  his  patron  Godolphin  an  abstract  of  this 
scheme,  accompanied  by  a  short  letter  ending  thus  :49 

"  I  shall  have  the  Honour  to  wait  on  your  Lordship  suddenly  to  know 
your  Pleasure  in  this  Affair.  If  your  Lordship  encourages  me  to  lay  this 
Proposal  before  the  House  of  Commons,  I  shall  prepare  an  Appendix, 
by  which  I  believe  that  I  can  satisfy  that  Honourable  House,  that  the 
Advantages  mention'd  both  in  the  Proposal  at  large,  and  in  the  Abstract, 
will  really  accrue  to  us  from  putting  this  Design  into  Practice." 

So  far  as  is  known  Dennis  received  no  encouragement,  and  he 
wrote  no  more  political  pamphlets  till  1711.  The  most  probable 
reason  for  his  silence  at  a  time  when  both  parties  were  eagerly 
seeking  pamphleteers,  and  might  well  have  made  use  of  such  a 
virile  author,  is  that  given  in  the  preface  to  Liberty  Asserted: 

"  I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  if  I  could  be  brought  to  espouse  any 
Party  warmly  that  Party  might  be  brought  to  espouse  me,  but  that  till 
I  make  that  step  I  must  be  left  to  myself;  of  this  I  am  perfectly  con- 
vinc'd,  and  yet  nothwithstanding  this  Conviction,  I  hope  in  God  that  I 
shall  not  change  my  Conduct." 

During  this  busy  period  of  the  earlier  years  of  the  century, 
Dennis  also  produced  his  longest  and  most  important  critical 
works  and  from  them  gained  his  most  substantial  reputation. 
In  fact  he  stood  as  perhaps  the  most  important  critic  of  the 
period  following  the  death  of  Dryden.  Possibly  Dennis's 
desire  to  occupy  the  seat  of  his  master  urged  him  at  this  time  to 
his  most  original  critical  thinking ;  possibly  his  slowly  ripening 
powers  had  now  reached  their  maturity;  certainly  he  was  not 
distracted,  as  in  the  next  decade,  by  personal  brawls.  At  any 
rate,  in  1701,  the  year  after  the  death  of  Dryden,  he  published 
the  most  important  and  significant  of  his  critical  writings,  the 
Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry.  A  Criti- 
cal Discourse  in  Two  Parts.  The  first  shewing  that  the  Prin- 
cipal Reason  why  the  Ancients  excell'd  the  Moderns  in  the 

49  Original    Letters,    p.    121. 
5 


50 

greater  Poetry,  was  because  they  mix'd  Religion  with  Poetry. 
The  Second,  Proving  that  by  joining  Poetry  with  the  Religion 
reveal' d  to  us  in  Sacred  Writ,  the  Modern  Poets  may  come  to 
equal  the  Ancients.  The  author  always  regarded  this  treatise 
with  a  pride  that  was  in  part  justified  by  its  reception,  for  it 
was  probably  the  only  one  of  his  critical  writings  that  ever 
attained  to  a  third  edition.50 

As  a  sequel  to  the  Advancement  and  Reformation  Dennis 
published  in  1704  his  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry — Being  a 
Preliminary  to  a  Larger  Work — to  be  entitl'd,  A  Criticism 
upon  our  most  Celebrated  English  Poets  deceased.  This  small 
volume  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pages  contains  the  beginnings 
of  Dennis's  projected  magnum  opus,  together  with  a  copy  of 
the  prospectus  he  had  issued,  outlining  the  nature  and  scope 
of  the  work,  giving  a  few  specimen  pages,  and  inviting  sub- 
scriptions at  the  rate  of  one  guinea  for  the  volume.51  This 
proposal  was  issued  sometime  in  1703 ;  and  the  work  of  secur- 
ing subscriptions  was  pushed  by  a  Mr.  Welby,  a  Mr.  Maxwell, 
a  Mr.  Harmon,  and  Dr.  Garth.  But  these  solicitors  met  with 
such  slight  encouragement  that,  though  they  had  the  lists  in 
hand  for  about  a  year,  they  secured  but  seventy  subscribers.52 
Consequently  Dennis  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  project,  though 
he  did  so  very  reluctantly  and  stated  in  his  preface  to  the 
Grounds  of  Criticism: 

"  My  friends  know  very  well  that  I  was  three  Months  employ'd  about 
that  Work,  after  the  last  Subscription  came  in,  and  I  appeal  to  them,  if  it 
was  not  high  time  to  lay  it  aside  for  something  that  might  be  more  Bene- 

50  This  it  did  in  1725.     The  second  edition  appeared  in  1709. 

61 "...  it  is  impossible  for  any  Bookseller  to  make  it  worth  the  Under- 
takers Trouble  in  employing  so  much  Time  and  Thought  as  so  great  and 
important  Design  requires,  the  lovers  of  Criticism  are  therefore  desir'd 
...  at  least  to  encourage  it  by  their  Subscriptions  at  the  Rate  of  a 
Guinea  a  Book,  paying  half  a  Guinea  down  at  the  time  of  subscribing  and 
half  at  the  delivery  of  the  Book  in  Quires;  the  Undertaker  promising 
at  the  same  time  that  not  a  Book  shall  be  printed  more  than  the  number 
subscrib'd."  From  the  Prospectus  included  in  the  Grounds  of  Criticism. 

0  "  When  Crites  the  most  consumate  Critic  of  the  Age,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  poet  of  the  first  Magnitude,  propos'd  the  publishing  of  a  Com- 
plete Body  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  he  got  not  above  Seventy  Guineas  in 
Subscription."  Gildon's  Complete  Art  of  Poetry,  1717,  I,  185. 


51 

ficial;  I  have  printed  all  that  I  had  by  me  entire  to  shew  that  I  was  in 
very  good  Earnest,  and  that  it  was  not  my  Fault  that  I  did  not  do  the 
rest." 

In  proof  of  the  honesty  of  his  intentions  Dennis  published 
under  the  title  of  the  Grounds  of  Criticism  all  the  material 
he  had  completed  for  this  great  work.  In  these  pages  he 
stated  the  chief  rules  upon  which  he  had  intended  to 
rear  his  critical  structure,  which  he  hoped  should  be 
"perhaps  the  greatest  in  this  kind  of  writing  that  has  ever 
been  conceived  by  the  Moderns."  The  latter  part  of  the  trea- 
tise is  devoted  in  good  part  to  a  comparison  between  Tasso  and 
Milton,  usually  much  to  the  Puritan's  advantage.  On  the 
whole  this  is  a  really  valuable  book,  so  we  can  only  regret  that 
its  reception  was  not  sufficiently  flattering  to  induce  the  author 
to  proceed  with  the  proposed  opus.63 

In  this  period  Dennis  wrote  two  other  critical  pamphlets, 
an  Essay  on  the  Italian  Operas  and  the  Person  of  Quality's 
Answer  to  Mr.  Collier's  Letter,  being  a  Dissuasive  from  the 
Play  House.  The  latter  was  published  about  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1704  in  reply  to  the  Dissuasive  from  the  Play  House. 
Occasioned  by  the  late  Calamity  of  the  Tempest.  In  a  Letter 
to  a  Person  of  Quality.  The  great  storm  that  had  swept  over 
England  in  1703,  Collier  declared,  had  been  sent  as  a  judgment 
upon  the  nation  for  permitting  "  the  enormities  of  the  theatres." 
To  the  people  leaving  the  churches  on  the  fast  day  ordered  at 
that  time  by  the  authorities,  copies  of  Collier's  tract  were  dis- 
tributed gratuitously;  and  such  was  the  outcry  raised  against 
the  stage  "that  there  was  a  warm  Report  about  Town,  that 
it  had  twice  been  debated  in  Council,  whether  the  Theatres 
should  be  shut  up  or  continued."  Such  a  state  of  affairs  natu- 
rally aroused  Dennis  to  his  second  reply  to  Collier,  in  which  he 
mingled  good  natured  raillery  with  serious  argument.  Though 
this  reply  was  well  received,  especially  by  Buckingham,  Lands- 

08  In  the  list  of  subscribers  which  Dennis  included  in  the  preface  to  the 
Grounds  of  Criticism  occur  the  names  of  Lord  Somers,  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire,  Mrs.  Manley,  William  Walsh,  Anthony  Henley  "  for  two," 
Lord  Winchilsea,  Sir  Richard  Blackmore,  and  Thomas  Brown.  Richard 
Norton,  the  author  of  the  forgotten  tragedy  Pausanius,  the  Betrayer  of  his 
Country,  1696,  subscribed  for  six  copies  of  Dennis's  proposed  work. 


52 

downe,  and  Halifax,  it  was  so  ephemeral  that  sixteen  years 
later  the  author  declared54  "  it  is  now  as  scarce  as  any  Manu- 
script of  which  there  is  but  one  Copy." 

Two  years  later  Dennis  wrote  another  critical  pamphlet  in 
defense  of  the  drama,  this  time  against  the  enemies  within 
its  own  house.  His  small  tract  of  thirty  pages,  an  Essay  on 
the  Operas  after  the  Italian  Manner,  which  are  about  to  be 
established  on  the  English  stage;  With  some  Reflections  upon 
the  Dangers  zvhich  they  may  bring  the  Publick,  1706,  was 
the  author's  first  pronunciamento  of  a  long  and  uncompro- 
mising opposition  to  the  Italian  music  which  had  invaded  the 
English  stage  and  was  making  inroads  upon  the  regular  drama. 
In  his  early  attack  upon  this  fashionable  kind  of  entertain- 
ment, Dennis  was  taking  one  of  the  few  critical  positions  to 
be  held  by  all  the  principal  contemporary  writers,  including 
Steele,  Addison,  Swift,  and  Pope.55  This  essay  was  the  only 
attack  of  Dennis's  against  the  opera  which  ever  attained  to 
the  dignity  of  a  pamphlet,  though  he  scattered  through  his 
writings  frequent  dicta  upon  the  subject,  and,  according  to 
Disraeli,56  when  Harley  came  to  power  in  1710,  sent  him  a 
letter,  declaring  that  England  could  never  prosper  while  the 
corrupting  Italian  opera  flourished. 

These  essays  in  criticism  were  all  written  with  moderation 
and  were  free  from  personal  abuse.  The  one  notable  attack 
upon  Dennis  in  this  period57  was  that  by  Swift  in  the  Digres- 

54  Original  Letters,  p.   227. 

55  The  discussions  of  foreign  music  in  the  Toiler  and  Spectator  are  well 
known  as  is  also  the  attempt  to  meet  this  invasion  of  foreign  music  with 
such  operas   as  Addison's  Rosamond,    1706.     Pope's   attacks   were   not  so 
vigorous,   although  his   sneer  at  "  dying  to   an   eunuch's   song "   is   charac- 
teristic  of    his    attitude.      Though    Swift   could    write   to    Philips    in    1708 
that  "  Critic  Dennis  vows  to  God  that  operas  will  be  the  ruin  of  the  na- 
tion and  brings   examples   from  antiquity  to   prove  it,"  he  took  occasion, 
nevertheless,    in    the    third    number    of    the    Intelligencer    to    declare    that 
"  we  are  overrun  with  Italian  effeminacy  and  Italian  nonsense." 

66  The   Calamities   of   Authors,   London,    1867,   p.    57. 

"Bedford,  in  his  Evils  and  Dangers  of  Stage  Plays,  Bristol,  1706,  at- 
tacked Dennis,  along  with  the  other  dramatists  of  the  time,  for  the  im- 
morality of  his  plays,  especially  of  Liberty  Asserted  and  Gibraltar.  But 
there  is  nothing  personal  in  his  reflections. 


53 

sion  Concerning  Critics — the  famous  third  chapter  of  his  Tale 
of  a  Tub,  which  appeared  in  1704.  Swift  here  characterized 
Dennis  with  Bentley,  Rymer,  and  Perrault,  as  among  the  "  de- 
scendents  of  Momus  and  Hybris  who  begat  Zoilus";  and  he 
then  proceeded  to  enumerate  the  qualifications  of  the  "True 
Critics,"  such  as  dullness  and  fault-finding. 

Dennis,  however,  made  no  reply.  Possibly  he  did  not  read 
the  attack;  and  even  if  he  did,  he  may  have  considered  it 
unnecessary  to  answer,  for  in  spite  of  his  strong  prejudices 
and  hearty  aggressiveness  he  lived  at  this  time  in  comparative 
quiet  with  a  set  of  writers  whose  relations  with  each  other 
could  never  be  characterized  as  amicable.  His  position  as  one 
of  the  foremost  of  contemporary  English  critics  was  well 
established,  and  we  of  today  have  no  reason  for  revising  the 
judgment  of  his  associates.  His  writings  through  these  years 
had  clearly  shown  him  a  better  critic  than  poet,  for  his  verses 
and  dramas  do  not  rank  very  high  even  in  that  time  of  inferior 
bards  and  unremembered  playwrights.  Fortunately  one  of 
his  effusions  had  possessed  sufficient  merit  to  induce  the  gov- 
ernment to  provide  in  part  at  least  for  his  livelihood.  The 
hope  of  patronage  had,  however,  but  little  weight  with  Dennis 
in  moulding  the  views  expressed  in  his  political  pamphlets, 
which,  while  generally  leaning  toward  the  whig  policies,  mani- 
fested a  genuine  regard  for  public  above  private  interest.  Had 
he  died  in  1710,  Dennis  would  now  be  remembered  as  a  small 
dramatist  and  pamphleteer  and  as  a  much  better  critic — a  man 
who,  for  the  most  part,  was  esteemed  and  respected  by  his 
contemporaries ;  and  he  would  have  been  spared  a  petulant  old 
age  filled  with  quarrels  with  some  of  his  celebrated  contem- 
poraries— Swift  and  Steele,  Addison  and  Pope,  brawls  which 
for  two  centuries  have  been  used  to  stigmatize  him  in  literary 
history. 


Ill 

1710-1734 

The  third  and  last  period  of  Dennis's  life,  from  his  first 
quarrel  with  Pope  in  1711  to  his  death  in  1734,  covers  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  century  of  remarkable  activity.  Though  Dennis 
was  almost  fifty-five  at  the  beginning  of  this  period,  he  was 
still  to  issue  nearly  thirty  publications  of  different  sorts,  rang- 
ing in  importance  from  some  hasty  pamphlets  to  a  carefully 
revised  edition  of  the  Works,  and  ending  with  a  task  in  trans- 
lation when  he  was  seventy-six  and  almost  blind. 

In  the  divisions  of  his  life  already  discussed  his  lot  had  been, 
on  the  whole,  a  comfortable  one :  he  had  enjoyed  at  least  fair 
health;  he  had  numbered  among  his  benefactors  many  of  the 
great  patrons  of  the  age ;  and  he  was  generally  recognized  as 
one  of  the  foremost,  if  not  the  greatest,  of  the  critics  of  the 
time.  That  he  felt  his  importance  is  evident  from  nis  state- 
ments regarding  the  value  of  the  theory  he  had  advanced  for 
the  improvement  of  poetry  and  from  his  estimate  of  his  contri- 
bution to  the  drama.1  In  the  previous  period  this  self  esteem 
had  been  buoyed  up  by  his  reception  among  the  literary  men 
of  the  time,  by  a  comparative  independence  of  means,  and  by 
the  expectation  of  what  he  might  still  accomplish.  But  by 
1710  the  generation  of  Dryden  had  either  died  or  given  place 
to  the  groups  of  writers  that  centered  around  Addison  and 
Steele,  or  Swift  and  Pope.  Though  Addison  had  once  sat 
with  Dennis  in  the  group  around  Dryden,  he  was  fifteen  years 
younger  than  the  critic,  so  that  it  is  not  surprising  that  he 
never  identified  himself  very  closely  with  the  older  generation. 
Dennis  was  naturally  a  laudator  temporis  acti,  and  his  literary 
tastes  and  inclinations  were  by  this  time  thoroughly  fixed.  It 

1  Preface  to  the  Invader  of  His  Country,  "  Thus  did  they  [the  managers 
of  Drury-Lane]  take  occasion  to  exercise  a  real  Barbarity  upon  an  old 
Acquaintance  to  whom  they  and  their  stage  are  more  oblig'd  than  to 
any  Writer  in  England." 

54 


55 

was  but  natural,  therefore,  that  he  regarded  with  dislike  the 
"machine  turned "  verse  then  growing  in  popularity  and  gain- 
ing rewards.  Rewards  and  prosperity  were,  in  fact,  the  gods 
of  the  age;  it  was  a  time  when  the  nation,  even  to  the  village 
clergymen,  could  go  mad  with  the  South  Sea  frenzy.  The 
infection  spread  to  the  literary  classes,  so  that  it  is  possibly 
not  too  much  to  say  that  never  before  nor  since  could  the 
mercenariness  that  sometimes  accompanies  poverty  be  so  justly 
charged  to  the  writers  of  the  age.  From  this  scramble  of 
timeservers  Dennis  stood  aloof,  rather  defiantly  defending 
poverty,  and  declaring  that  if  Homer  was  not  in  debt,  it  was 
because  no  one  would  trust  him.  Indeed  we  cannot  help 
admiring  and  pitying  him  too  as  he  writes  thus: 

"  I  have  been  so  far  from  any  ambitious  Aims  or  any  sordid  views  of 
Interest  that  I  have  consented  to  see  several  of  the  Publick  Rewards  en- 
gross'd  by  some  who  are  luke  warm,  and  by  others  who  are  Jacobites  in 
Whig  clothing,  while  I  have  remain'd  very  poor  at  a  very  advanced  Age."  2 

In  such  a  town  of  intrigue  and  pursuit  of  gain,  where  every 
author  was  known  to  his  contemporaries,  personal  peculiari- 
ties did  not  escape  severe  comment  and  ridicule.  Pope's  mis- 
shapen form  attracted  more  satire  than  even  he  could  have 
answered  in  a  half  dozen  Dunciads;  Steele's  short,  dark  face  was 
a  frequent  subject  for  ridicule;  and  Dennis's  personal  appear- 
ance grew  more  and  more  inviting  of  attack.  His  short  figure, 
broadening  with  the  years,3  his  great  scowling  face,4  the  large 
eyes  that  stared  from  beneath  their  shaggy  brows,  these  with  a 

a  Original  Letters,  p.  84. 

3  In  1 720,  Dennis  in  inviting  Moyle  to  revisit  his  old  companions  whom 
he  had  not  seen  for  twenty  years,  says :  "  You  will  see  in  this  Town  old 
Friends  with  new  Shapes  and  Faces.  For  example,  you  will  find  your 

old  Friend  Mr.  W dwindled  into  those  narrow  Dimensions  in  which 

you  formerly  beheld  me  and  your  humble  Servant  enlarged  to  his  Quon- 
dam noble  Bulk  and  Proportions."  Original  Letters,  p.  213. 

*  One  of  the  headings  proposed  for  a  life  of  Dennis  in  the  Critical 
Specimen,  p.  14,  reads  thus:  "  CH.  XXI.  A  Discourse  of  the  Critick  con- 
cerning the  exact  Contraction  and  Expansion  of  the  Muscles  of  a  True 
Hypercritical  Countenance,  the  most  learned  manner  of  Frowning  as  it 
were  with  Judgment ;  together  with  the  whole  Art  of  Staring."  On  page 
3  of  this  same  tract  Dennis  is  referred  to  as  "  the  Renown'd  Rinaldo  Fu- 
rioso,  Critick  of  the  Woeful  Countenance." 


56 

slovenliness  of  dress  that  grew  more  noticeable  with  the  passing 
of  time,5  formed  a  marked  contrast  with  the  slender  youth  of 
the  town,  who  had  followed  the  fashions  with  Fleetwood 
Shepherd.  As  a  young  man,  too,  Dennis  had  possessed  a 
rough  kind  of  humor  that  could  return  a  bluff  jest;  but  this 
gradually  gave  way  before  his  growing  literalmindedness, 
which  first  gained  him  a  name  as  the  foe  of  puns  and  later, 
in  one  instance  at  least,  vitiated  his  work  as  a  critic.  Such  are 
some  of  the  changes  in  the  man  and  his  times ;  others  will  be 
noticed  in  passing. 

Among  these  changes  which  the  years  brought  to  Dennis  was 
the  loss  of  the  patrons  who  had  known  and  favored  him. 
Halifax  was  appointed  first  Lord  of  the  Treasury  in  1714  and 
soon  after  probably  rendered  Dennis  an  important  service  by 
insisting  upon  a  certain  reversion  of  the  income  when  the 
critic  sold  his  waitership.  But  the  hope  of  any  further  pro- 
vision from  Halifax  was  cut  off  by  his  death  in  1716,  not 
long  after  that  of  another  of  Dennis's  patrons,  Lord  Somers; 
and  these  losses  were  followed  in  1721  by  the  death  of  Buck- 
ingham. There  were,  however,  some  of  the  old  patrons  who 
still  regarded  Dennis  with  favor:  the  Earl  of  Pembroke 
received  in  this  period  another  dedication  from  our  author6 
and  till  the  time  of  his  death,  which  was  almost  coincident  with 
that  of  the  critic,  sent  occasional  gifts.  Walpole,  who  allowed 
the  old  author  £  20  a  year  for  several  years,  and  Bolingbroke 
are  among  the  most  noted  of  Dennis's  new  benefactors  of  these 
times;  but  they  never  did  anything  very  generous  for  the 
critic,  evidently  regarding  him  as  one  of  the  poorer  dependents 
of  the  literary  family  whose  needs  required  occasional  recog- 
nition. These  chance  gifts,  however,  were  the  more  acceptable 
from  the  fact  that  few  of  Dennis's  writings  during  these  years 
were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  permit  a  dedication.  A  play  or  a 
poem,  however  inferior,  generally  found  a  welcome  that  would 
never  be  accorded  a  criticism  of  a  popular  book ;  consequently 
Dennis  was  forced  to  preface  many  of  these  pamphlets  with 

6  "  Ch.XX.  Of  the  Manner  of  Wearing  his  Breeches,  with  a  short  Essay 
to  show  that  the  most  natural  Position  of  Rolls  for  Stockings  is  about 
one's  Heels."  Critical  Specimen,  p.  13. 

6  That  of  Vice  and  Luxury,  1711. 


57 

introductory  letters  to  such  men  as  Theobald  and  Duckett,7 
from  whom  no  reward  might  be  expected.  Dennis's  one  play 
of  this  period,  the  Invader  of  his  Country,  was  dedicated  to 
the  Lord  Chamberlain,  the  Earl  of  Newcastle,  who,  because  of 
the  fight  at  that  time  over  the  control  of  the  theatre,  had  come 
to  share  the  author's  dislike  for  Steele.  Moreover,  with  his 
increasing  ill-health  and  his  retirement  from  society,  Dennis 
found  it  a  matter  of  growing  difficulty  to  secure  the  ear  of  a 
possible  patron,  as  is  witnessed  by  his  dedicating  his  Mis- 
cellaneous Tracts  to  the  Earl  of  Scarborough,  whom,  he  con- 
fessed in  the  dedication,  he  "had  met  but  once,  and  that  by 
accident."  The  year  before  his  death  Dennis  found  a  new 
friend  in  Colonel  Bladen,8  whose  unexpected  present  he  grate- 
fully acknowledges  in  the  dedication  of  his  translation  of 
Burnet's  State  of  Departed  Souls.  Whatever  may  have  inter- 
ested Bladen  in  the  old  critic,  he  certainly  gave  doubly  by  giv- 
ing opportunely;  for  taking  the  period  as  a  whole,  Dennis's 
rewards  from  his  patrons  were  probably  even  smaller  than 
his  returns  from  his  publishers. 

Regarding  the  more  purely  personal  affairs  of  his  life  during 
this  period,  we  possess  scanty  information,  save  for  the  years 
1717-1720,  on  which  some  additional  light  is  occasionally  shed 
by  the  hints  in  his  collection  of  literary  letters,  1721.  This 
correspondence,  however,  contains  but  little  concerning  his 
private  affairs  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  second  decade  of 

7  George  Duckett  was   for  many  years  a  member  of  parliament  for  the 
family   borough   of    Calne,   Wiltshire,    and   from    1722   to   the   time   of   his 
death,  ten  years  later,   one  of  the  commissioners  of  excise.     He  is  to  be 
remembered   as   the   friend   of   Addison   and   as    the    enemy    of    Pope.     In 
1715-16    he   published    either    alone    or    perhaps    in    conjunction    with    Sir 
Thomas    Burnet,    several    attacks    upon    Pope's    translation    of    the    Iliad. 
Duckett  and  Burnet  also  cooperated  in  promoting  two  weekly  journals,  the 
Grumbler  and  the  Pasquin. 

8  Martin  Bladen  (1680-1746)  is  to  be  remembered  chiefly  as  a  member  of 
parliament  for  over  thirty  years  and  as  one  of  the  Lords  Commissioners 
of  Trade  and  Plantations.     In   1705  he  published  his   Orpheus  and  Eury- 
dice,  a  Masque,  which  anticipated  by  about  two  years   Dennis's  treatment 
of   the   same   story.      If   he   was   the   Bladen   mentioned   in    I.    504   of    the 
Dunciad,    as    has    been    conjectured,    his    enmity    toward    Pope    may    have 
aroused  his  sympathy  for  Dennis. 


58 

the  century  beyond  an  occasional  allusion  to  his  "great  mis- 
fortunes."9 Dennis  probably  refers  to  these  affairs  when  he 
states  in  the  fourth  letter  to  Sir  John  Edgar,  i.  e.,  Steele,  "  If 
I  had  the  misfortune  to  be  an  insolvent  debtor,  I  should  have 
this  apology  to  make  for  myself,  that  my  insolvency  would  not 
be  owing  to  my  extravagance  or  want  of  taking  pains,  but 
to  the  hard,  not  to  say  unjust  usage  .  .  .  which  I  have  met 
with  in  the  world."  This  trouble  whatever  it  was,  began  some 
time  before  1711,  the  date  of  the  publication  of  Dennis's  Re- 
flections upon  Pope's  Essay  on  Criticism,  and  continued  till 
January,  1715,  when  he  secured  relief  by  selling  his  waitership 
to  Benj.  Hudson  Esq.,  probably  for  £  6oo.10  His  patron 
Halifax  insisted  that  he  should  stipulate  for  a  reversion  of 
the  salary  for  a  number  of  years  with  the  view  of  securing 
an  income  for  the  remainder  of  his  life ;  and  this  interposition 
afterwards  proved  of  greatest  value  to  the  short  sighted  critic. 
Gibber's  Lives  of  the  Poets,  IV,  216,  has  a  muddled  story  about 
Halifax's  insisting  that  Dennis  secure  a  reversion  of  the  income 
from  the  waitership  for  forty  years,  that  Dennis  acknowl- 

9  The    Theatre,   II,    248. 

10  The    warrant   permitting   Dennis    to    sell    his    place   reads    as    follows : 
"After  our  hearty  commendations, — Whereas  his  Majesty  by  letters  patent 
bearing  the  date  of  the  i7th  day  of  March  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign 
was   pleased   to   continue   to   John   Dennis,    Esq.   the   office   of   one   of   the 
King's  Waiters  in  the  Port  of  London  during  His  Majesty's  Royal  Pleas- 
ure,  which   said  office  being  now   revoked   and   determined   and   the  same 
granted   by   other  His   Majesty's   Letters   Patent  unto    Benj.   Hudson   Esq: 
These    are    to   authorize   and   to   require   you   to    make   payment   unto    the 
said  John   Dennis  or  his  Assignees   of   all  such   Sum  or   Sums   of  Money 
as  are  incurred  and  grown  due  to  him  on  his  salary  of    £52.   P.   annum 
in  respect  to  said  office  from  the  time  he  was  last  paid  to  the  day  of  re- 
vocation thereof  by  the  Letters  Patent  last  mentioned.     And  this  shall  be 
as  well  to  you  for  payment  as  to  the  Auditor  for  allowing  thereof  on  your 
account   a    Sufficient   Warrant. 

Treasury  Chambers,  21   March,   1715.  R-  Walpole 

To    our   very   Irving   friend  W.  St.Quintin 

Henry  Feme,  Esq.  P.  Methuen 

Recr.  Genl.  &  Cashier  to  His  Majesty's  Customs.  F.    Newport. 

"The  Letters  Patent  appointing  Benj.  Hudson  as  Dennis's  successor 
are  dated  i7th  of  March  1715,  Enrollments  L,  p.  41."  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine, 1850,  XII,  pt.  ii,  p.  1 8. 


59 

edged  this  interference  in  the  dedication  of  his  poem  on  the 
battle  of  Ramillies,  and  that  he  survived  the  reversion.  The 
dates  of  Dennis's  appointment  and  of  his  death,  1705  and  1734, 
in  themselves  show  the  absurdity  of  any  statement  that  he 
outlived  a  forty  year  reversion  of  the  income.  It  seems  much 
more  probable  that  this  provision  was  for  fifteen  years,  a 
period  apparently  ample  for  anticipating  the  remainder  of  the 
critic's  life.  Moreover,  such  a  reversion  would  be  in  harmony 
with  the  well  authenticated  statements  that  the  last  years  of 
his  life  were  a  time  of  great  poverty.  Our  author's  acknowl- 
edgment in  the  preface  to  Ramillies  of  Halifax's  interference 
in  his  behalf  was  rather  an  allusion  to  his  patron's  assistance 
in  securing  the  position  which  he  had  received  but  a  few 
months  before,  and  for  which  he  had  had  no  opportunity  of 
thanking  Halifax  publicly.  It  appears  more  probable  that  the 
interposition  of  Halifax  came  at  the  time  of  the  sale  of  the 
waitership,  especially  as  he  was  then  the  first  Lord  of  the 
Treasury.10*1 

From  1711  to  1715  Dennis  lived,  for  a  part  of  the  time  at 
least,  within  the  verges  of  the  royal  court,  where  he  was  safe 
from  arrest  for  debt.11  For  a  while,  too,  he  lived  at  Jack 
Richardson's  Tower  Den,  which  he  later  left  for  what  Gay 
in  his  facetious  dedication  to  the  Mohocks,  1712,  was  pleased 

10a  Possibly  Halifax  endeavored  about  this  time  to  give  Dennis  some 
substantial  aid;  for  the  Weekly  Packet  for  July  3o-Aug.  6,  1715,  states  that 
Nahum  Tate  died  on  the  previous  Saturday,  and  that  it  was  said  that 
he  would  be  succeeded  as  Poet  Laureate  and  as  Royal  Historiographer  by 
Mr.  John  Dennis,  one  of  the  King's  Waiters  at  the  Customs'  House.  The 
next  week,  August  13,  1715,  Dawkes's  Newsletter  stated  that  N.  Rowe 
would  be  Poet  Laureate  and  J.  Dennis  Royal  Historiographer. 

"The  Theatre,  II,  248.  In  Samuel  Ireland's  Graphic  Illustrations  of 
Hogarth,  1794,  II,  86,  is  given  a  characteristic  story  of  Dennis's  poverty 
and  his  fearful  suspicion :  "  Having  one  Saturday  night  strayed  beyond  his 
privileged  bounds  to  a  public  house,  such  was  his  apprehension,  that  hav- 
ing, as  soon  as  he  entered,  cast  his  eye  upon  a  man,  whose  countenance 
did  not  argue  very  favorably  for  him,  he  crept  into  an  obscure  corner  to 
avoid  the  notice  of  the  person,  whom  his  fears  converted  into  a  Bailiff. 
"  At  length,  however,  the  clock  struck  twelve,  when  the  critic  threw  off 
his  alarm  and  cried  out  '  Now,  Sir  Bailiff,  or  no  Bailiff,  your  power  is 
expired.  I  don't  care  a  farthing  for  you.' " 


60 

to  call  an  "  Elegant  Retreat  in  the  Country."  But  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  town  were  always  strong  for  Dennis,  hence,  if  we 
are  to  give  any  credit  to  Swift's  biting  poem,  John  Dennis,  the 
Sheltering  Poet's  Invitation,  the  next  year  found  the  critic  liv- 
ing at  the  Mint,  where  he  is  represented  as  urging  Steele  to 
come  and  share  his  security.  Probably  with  the  hope  of  better- 
ing his  condition  Dennis  now  wrote  his  only  long  poem  of  this 
period,  Upon  the  Accession  of  King  George  to  the  Imperial 
Crown  of  Great  Britain,  a  commonplace  production  which, 
though  it  may  have  had  a  little  weight  in  securing  the  con- 
firmation of  the  waitership,  brought  no  other  reward. 

In  1715  Dennis  was  relieved  from  his  immediate  burdens  by 
the  sale  of  his  waitership;  and,  for  a  time  at  least,  he  lived  in 
quiet  security.  When,  in  the  controversy  with  Steele  in  1720, 
he  was  twitted  about  his  debts,  he  replied  thus  :12  "  to  shew 
you  that  I  am  not  in  the  condition  you  imagine,  I  have  for 
the  last  four  years  lodged  continually  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Whitehall;  and  I  appeal  to  the  Honourable  Board  of  the 
Green  Cloth  if,  during  this  time,  so  much  as  one  complaint  has 
been  preferred  against  me."  After  this  period  of  trouble, 
Dennis  resumed  his  old  habits  of  spending  a  part  of  the  year 
in  the  country,13  induced  partly  by  his  love  of  nature  and 
partly  by  the  hope  of  improving  his  health,  for  to  the  weight 
of  the  other  vexations  of  these  years  was  added  that  of  sick- 
ness. As  early  as  1712  or  I7I314  he  was  obliged  to  treasure  his 
sight,  but  even  such  care  did  not  prevent  his  becoming  almost 
totally  blind  in  his  old  age.  He  was,  moreover,  like  Defoe, 
forced  to  bear  another  and  more  painful  infirmity,  that  of  the 

12  The  Theatre  II,  248. 

13  For  example,  in   1716  he  left  London  in  June,  was  in   Hanworth  on 
the  2oth  of  September,  and  back  at  Whitehall  on   October  3.     The  next 
year  he  left  town  on  July   3   and  three  weeks  later  was   in   Cobham,   a! 
market   town   in    Surrey,   whence   he   proceeded   on   a   short   tour   through 
the   wilds   of   Surrey.     He   was   back   in   Hampstead   before   the   close   of 
October.     Cobham  seems  to  have  been  one  of  his  favorite  retreats,  since 
he  wrote :     "  For  tho'  I  have  been  ten  times  here,  yet  as  my  former  Lodg- 
ings had  the  finest   Meadows  aind   Streams  in  the  World  behind  them,   I 
scarce  ever  came  into  the  Village  so  that  until  this  last  Arrival,  I  knew 
nothing  of  the  People  of  Cobham."     Original  Letters,  p.  133. 

14  Original  Letters,  p.   197. 


61 

stone,  with  which  he  was  troubled  for  years.15  The  letters 
between  1715  and  1721  show  Dennis  so  wracked  with  this 
disease  that  he  feared  he  might  die.  In  1722,  1724  and  1728 
he  was  still  suffering  with  this  complaint,  which  seems  to  have 
grown  worse  with  his  advancing  years. 

In  these  years  of  debt  and  sickness  and  retirement  Dennis 
naturally  took  but  a  slight  part  in  politics.  He  was,  however, 
interested  in  the  great  national  events  and  in  1715  attacked  the 
Jacobite  clergy  in  one  of  his  most  successful  pamphlets.  This 
tract  of  sixty  small  pages,  entitled  Priestcraft  Distinguish' d 
from  Christianity,15*  was  occasioned  by  the  growing  sentiment 
in  favor  of  the  Pretender,  which  was  soon  to  culminate  in 
open  rebellion.  Dennis  here  urged  that  through  their  seditious 
words  and  deeds  these  Jacobite  clergy  were  showing  them- 
selves the  true  disciples  of  Antichrist.  This  pamphlet  met  with 
a  very  favorable  reception,  maintained  its  popularity  for 
several  years,  and  reached  a  third  edition  in  1718.  The  land- 
ing of  the  Pretender  in  1715  drew  from  Dennis  a  letter  to  a 
friend  that  shows  he  knew  the  English  nation  well  enough 
to  have  no  apprehension  of  the  reestablishment  of  the  house  of 
Stuart;  and  his  allegiance  to  the  existing  government  was 
strengthened  by  the  repeal  of  the  Occasional  Conformity  Act 
and  the  Schism  Act.  Moreover,  he  vigorously  opposed  the 
growing  corruption  in  the  political  life  of  the  times  and 
strongly  condemned  the  South  Sea  enterprise  long  before  the 
crash  came. 

The  protest  of  this  eighteenth  century  Carlyle  against  the 
increasing  luxury  of  the  times,  which  was  probably  intensified 

15  Ibid.,  pp.  19,  13,  204,  201  ;  Vice  and  Luxury,  p.  100,  and  its  dedication 
iv. 

iBa  Priestcraft  Distinguish' d  from  Christianity.  Shewing,  I.  That  Wicked 
Priests  are  the  real  Antichrists  mention'd  in  Scriptures.  II.  That  the 
Corruptions  of  the  Laity  in  all  Christian  States,  proceeds  from  the  Cor- 
ruptions of  the  Clergy.  III.  That  there  was  a  more  General  Virtue  in  the 
grossest  Times  of  Paganism,  than  there  has  been  since  our  Saviour  came 
into  the  World.  IV.  That  there  is  a  more  General  Virtue  in  other  Parts  of 
the  Globe,  than  in  the  Christian  World.  V.  That  there  was  more  General 
Virtue  in  our  own  Nation  in  the  Times  of  our  Ancestors,  than  there  is 
in  our  own  Times;  and  that  Priestcraft,  and  Corruption  of  Manners,  have 
increas'd  together. 


62 

by  the  hardship  of  his  own  lot,  is  the  most  marked  character- 
istic of  his  other  three  political  essays  of  this  period.  The  first 
of  these,  his  Essay  upon  Publick  Spirit;  being  a  Satyr  in  Prose 
upon  the  Manners  and  Luxury  of  the  Times,  the  Chief  Source 
of  our  present  Parties  and  Diversions,  appeared  early  in  1711 
and  brought  from  Lintot  a  return  of  2\.  I2s.  6d.  Dennis's 
doctrine  in  this  essay  may  be  stated  briefly  thus:  the  love 
of  one's  country,  which  is  the  basis  of  national  union,  is 
in  the  main  a  love  of  their  manners.  But  the  purity  and 
distinction  of  English  manners  were  being  destroyed  by  the 
increasing  luxury  and  by  the  growing  imitation  of  the  French 
and  Italians.  To  preserve  the  national  strength  and  integrity 
the  island  must  return  to  its  old  customs. 

To  this  same  theme  Dennis  returned  in  another  political 
pamphlet  published  eleven  years  later,  1722,  which  bore  the 
somewhat  formidable  title  Julius  Caesar  Acquitted  and  his 
Murderers  Condemned.  In  a  Letter  to  a  Friend,  shewing 
That  it  was  not  Caesar  who  destroyed  the  Roman  Liberties, 
but  the  Corruption  of  the  Romans  themselves.  Occasioned 
by  two  Letters  in  the  London  Journal,  the  one  on  the  2nd, 
the  other  on  the  pth  of  December.  To  which  is  added  a 
Second  Letter,  shewing,  that  if  ever  the  Liberties  of  Great 
Britain  are  lost,  they  will  be  lost  in  no  other  Way  than  by  the 
Corruption  of  the  People  of  Great  Britain  themselves.  The 
title  gives  a  very  fair  idea  of  the  contents  of  this  pamphlet, 
whose  author  was  coming  more  and  more  to  feel  that  England 
was  a  fen  of  stagnant  waters. 

Dennis  exhibited  much  the  same  attitude  in  his  last  and 
longest  political  tract,  Vice  and  Luxury  Public  Mischiefs:  or 
Remarks  on  a  Book  Intitul'd  The  Fable  of  the  Bees;  or 
Private  Vices  Public  Benefits,  1724.  Our  author  was  here 
replying16  to  the  1723  edition  of  Mandeville's  book,  which  con- 
tained along  with  the  Fable  of  the  Bees  an  Inquiry  into  the 
Origin  of  Moral  Virtue,  an  Essay  on  Charity  Schools,  and  a 
Search  into  the  Nature  of  Society.  These  'essays  bore  a  much 

"Besides  this  tract  by  Dennis  the  following  replies  to  Mandeville  may 
be  mentioned:  Richard  Fiddes's  General  Treatise  on  Morality;  William 
Law's  Remarks  on  the  Fable  of  the  Bees;  and  Francis  Hutchinson  in 
Hibernicus's  Letters. 


63 

closer  relation  than  their  titles  would  indicate,  for  they  were 
permeated  in  common  with  a  cynical  system  of  morality,  and 
all  of  them  advocated  the  doctrine  that  prosperity  is  increased 
by  expenditure  rather  than  by  saving.  It  is  easy  to  see  why 
such  a  book  evoked  a  prompt  and  indignant  response  from 
Dennis,  who  restated  and  amplified  some  of  his  objections  to 
"luxury  and  ungodliness."  Against  Mandeville's  pamphlet 
Dennis  protested  both  on  moral  and  on  political  grounds.  To 
the  old  critic  the  established  religion  of  every  country  was 
the  basis  of  the  public  morality  and  the  foundation  of  the 
nation's  government ;  and  consequently  the  growing  luxury  and 
scepticism  of  the  times  were  both  undermining  Christianity 
and  threatening  the  constitution.  What  little  we  know  of  the 
reception  of  this  the  last  of  Dennis's  political  pamphlets  is 
quite  favorable. 

Dennis's  activitiy  as  a  political  pamphleteer  in  this  period 
was,  however,  slight  compared  with  his  labors  as  a  judge  of 
letters.  His  critical  writings  of  these  years  may  be  divided 
into  two  classes — those  which  are  important  chiefly  as  speci- 
mens of  pure  criticism,  and  those  which,  while  interesting  for 
their  judicial  dicta,  have  an  added  value  as  recording  the 
struggles  of  their  writer  with  his  famous  contemporaries, 
Addison  and  Steele,  Swift  and  Pope.  These  conflicts  some- 
times degenerated  into  personal  abuse;  but  always  ostensibly, 
and  for  the  most  part  in  fact,  they  were  waged  on  the  field 
of  criticism,  and  on  the  whole  it  seems  most  satisfactory  to 
treat  them  accordingly. 

In  the  class  of  what  we  may  call  pure  criticism  the  earliest 
and  perhaps  the  most  important  of  Dennis's  writings  of  this 
period  was  the  Essay  on  the  Genius  and  Writings  of  Shakes- 
pear:  with  Some  Letters  of  Criticism  to  the  Spectator,  London, 
1712,  which  the  author  dedicated  to  Lord  Lansdowne  as  "  the 
one  who  best  understood  Shakespear."  Though  Dennis  may 
have  conceived  these  letters  during  his  lucubrations  over 
Coriolanus,17  he  begins  almost  as  if  in  fulfillment  of  the  promise 
made  twenty  years  before  in  the  Impartial  Critick  "to  prove 
that  contrary  to  Mr.  Rymer,  Shakespear  was  a  great  genius." 

17  Original  Letters,  p.  371. 


64 

Dennis  devoted  the  second  and  third  of  the  letters  composing 
this  pamphlet  to  showing  that  "  Shakespear  had  no  familiar 
acquaintance  with  the  Grecian  and  Roman  authors,"  a  task 
which,  on  the  whole,  he  handled  admirably.  To  these  letters 
on  Shakspere  he  appended  two  others  addressed  to  the  "  Spec- 
tator," which  may  more  properly  be  left  for  later  notice. 

In  1721  Dennis  printed  his  Original  Letters,  Familiar, 
Moral  and  Critical.  In  Two  Volumes.  These  two  volumes, 
which  were  frequently  bound  together  and,  in  all  the  copies 
which  the  present  writer  has  examined,  were  paged  con- 
secutively, form  a  miscellany  of  biography,  politics,  literary 
reminiscences,  and  criticism,  with  the  last  named  class  so 
emphasized  as  to  give  tone  to  the  collection.  The  familiar 
letters  consist  chiefly  of  notes  to  Dennis's  patrons — Bucking- 
ham, Godolphin,  Halifax,  and  Marlborough,  and  to  some  of 
his  literary  acquaintance,  such  as  Prior  and  Moyle.  The 
moral  ones  are  directed  chiefly  against  political  evils,  such  as 
stock  jobbing  and  civic  corruption.  Though  some  of  the 
critical  letters,  as,  for  example,  the  Person  of  Quality's  Answer 
to  Mr.  Collier  and  the  Letters  on  the  Genius  and  Writings  of 
Shakespear  were  simply  reprints  of  his  former  work,  the  book 
contains  many  of  his  literary  dicta  previously  unpublished, 
such  as  his  discussion  of  the  vis  comica,  his  disapproval  of  the 
ballads,  and  his  estimate  of  his  friend  Wycherley.  These 
Letters  form  a  valuable  source  for  the  study  of  the  literary 
history  of  these  times  and  are  now  so  scarce  as  to  deserve 
republication. 

In  1726,  five  years  after  the  appearance  of  the  Letters, 
Dennis  came  forward  for  the  fourth  time,18  as  he  says,  in 
behalf  of  the  theatre,  with  his  Stage  Defended  from  Scripture, 
Reason  and  the  Common  Sense  of  Mankind  for  Two  Thou- 
sand Years.  Occasioned  by  Mr.  Law's  Late  Pamphlet  against 
Stage  Entertainments.  In  his  attack  Law  had  shown  himself 
more  intolerant  and  less  well  informed  than  was  Collier,  and 
these  weaknesses  afforded  Dennis  an  advantage  upon  which 

"The  four  defenses  of  the  playhouse  to  which  Dennis  alludes  probably 
include  beside  the  one  against  Law  and  the  two  against  Collier  his  con- 
troversy with  Steele,  for  he  goes  on  to  discuss  the  ingratitude  of  the 
managers  of  the  theatre. 


65 

he  was  quick  to  seize.  Most  of  his  arguments  were  repeti- 
tions of  those  he  had  advanced  against  Collier  twenty  years 
before,  but  he  restated  them  in  a  fresh  and  interesting  way 
that  gained  respectful  attention. 

This  pamphlet  against  Law,  like  nearly  all  of  his  earlier  con- 
troversial tracts,  was  free  from  personal  abuse  and  stuck  to  the 
discussion  of  the  question  at  issue.  In  the  conflicts  now  to 
be  considered  between  him  and  some  of  the  best  known  writers 
of  the  age — Addison  and  Steele,  Swift  and  Pope,  it  is  notable 
that  Dennis  generally  took  arms  in  a  thoroughly  justifiable 
defense  of  himself.  It  must  be  confessed,  of  course,  that  his 
physical  peculiarities,  his  unconcealed  self-satisfaction,  his 
uncompromising  independence,  all  invited  attack;  and  Addison 
may  have  had  Dennis  in  mind  in  his  discussion  of  butts  in 
conversation,  which  appeared  in  the  47th  Spectator:  "  I  know 
several  of  these  Butts  who  are  men  of  Wit  and  Sense,  though 
by  some  odd  Turn  of  Humour,  some  unlucky  cast  in  their 
Person  or  Behavior,  they  always  have  the  Misfortune  to  make 
the  Company  merry."  Moreover,  it  was  at  the  beginning  of 
this  very  paper  that  Addison  had  used  Dennis  as  a  butt  by 
quoting  and  facetiously  praising  two  lines  from  the  latter's 
translation  of  a  satire  from  Boileau: 

"  Thus  one  Fool  lolls  his  Tongue  out  at  another, 
And   shakes   his   empty   Noodle   at  his   Brother." 

Just  when  Addison  and  others  came  to  assume  this  attitude 
toward  Dennis,  is  hard  to  say ;  but  such  stories  as  that  re- 
garding the  critic's  escapade  upon  his  introduction  to  Lord 
Halifax,  though  they  may  be  of  later  invention,  indicate  that 
he  had  early  become  an  object  of  banter.19 

But  it  was  Dennis's  uncompromising  opposition  to  the  "  un- 
merited success "  of  some  of  the  chief  authors  of  his  day 
that  brought  on  most  of  his  conflicts.  In  fact  only  one 
pamphlet  directed  against  him  is  to  be  mentioned  which  did 

"Theobald  states  in  the  Censor,  1717,  II,  33:  "The  Wags  who  see  him 
[Dennis]  sitting  in  a  Coffee  House  brim  full  of  Aristotle  and  Dacier,  and 
in  Pain  till  he  drops  some  of  his  Learning  among  them,  soon  ease  him 
of  that  Burthen  in  order  to  impose  a  heavier  one  upon  him  by  speaking 
well  of  his  Contemporaries." 


66 

not  emanate  from  some  one  of  these  famous  writers  or  their 
immediate  allies.  This  single  tract,  which  may  really  be  no 
exception  to  the  rule,  since  it  appeared  anonymously,  is  entitled 
the  Critical  Specimen,  1711.  It  purports  to  be  a  prospectus  of 
a  large  work  to  be  issued  by  Dennis  and  gives  a  burlesque 
specimen  chapter,  followed  by  the  titles  of  thirty-five  proposed 
chapters,  most  of  them  hits  at  him  either  as  an  author  or  as 
a  critic. 

But  with  this  possible  exception  practically  all  the  attacks  on 
Dennis  emanated  from  these  most  popular  writers  of  a 
younger  generation.  It  is  interesting  and  significant  to  note 
that  within  the  year  1711  Dennis  found  himself  embroiled  with 
four  of  his  renowned  adversaries,  Steele  and  Addison,  Swift 
and  Pope.  It  should  also  be  noted  that,  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  present  writer  at  least,  none  of  the  biographers  of  these 
celebrated  authors  has  traced  consecutively  or  exhaustively 
the  relations  of  his  particular  subject  with  Dennis,  and  that 
such  a  treatment  should  throw  some  light  upon  these  greater 
figures  of  the  early  eighteenth  century. 

Of  these  writers  the  first  to  pass  away  was  Addison,  whom 
we  have  already  noticed  in  connection  with  the  Dryden  group. 
Like  Dennis  he  contributed  verses  laudatory  of  Dryden  to  the 
Third  Miscellany,  and  he  probably  did  some  writing  in  con- 
junction with  our  author.20  Again,  at  a  private  reading  of 
Dennis's  poem  on  the  battle  of  Ramillies,  when  it  was  still 
in  manuscript,21  Addison  had  praised  the  work;  and  the  two 
lived  in  a  state  of  at  least  nominal  cordiality  till  the  fortieth 
number  of  the  Spectator  appeared  with  its  attack  on  Dennis's 
favorite  theory  of  poetic  justice,  which  it  branded  as  a  "ridi- 
culous Doctrine  in  Modern  Criticism,"  with  "  no  Foundation  in 
Nature,  in  Reason,  or  in  the  Practice  of  the  Ancients." 
Dennis  thought  Steele  the  author  of  the  article,  for  it  was  to 
him  that  he  returned  a  prompt  answer,  which  was  probably 
sent  direct  to  the  supposed  writer.  Addison  made  no  reply, 
though  he  came  back  to  the  subject  of  poetic  justice  about  a 

20 "  Did  you  not  vouchsafe  to  club  with  him  in  several  of  his  under- 
takings, and  thought  it  no  disgrace  ?  "  An  Answer  to  a  Whimsical  Pamph- 
let called  the  Character  of  Sir  John  Edgar,  in  the  Theatre,  II,  391. 

21  Original  Letters,  p.  421. 


67 

year  later  in  the  443rd  number  (July  16,  1712)  and  again  in 
the  548th.  It  was  only  a  little  over  a  week,  however,  after 
the  publication  of  the  first  article  on  poetic  justice  that  he 
printed  what  seems  to  have  been  an  attack  on  Dennis  in  con- 
nection with  the  essay  on  butts.  The  cut  was  the  more  severe 
because  Dennis  had  expected  some  favorable  mention  of  his 
work  by  the  "  Spectator,"22  so  that  it  was  but  natural  that  he 
should  write  a  sarcastic  letter  to  Steele,23  whom  he  supposed  to 
be  the  author.  It  seems  probable  that  Dennis  may  also  have 
ascribed  to  Steele24  the  7<Dth  number  of  the  Spectator,  Addi- 
son's  famous  critique  of  the  old  ballads,  which  our  author 
attacked  in  a  long  letter  to  Henry  Cromwell.  Six  months 
later  Addison  devoted  the  253rd  number  of  the  Spectator  to 
a  discussion  of  the  ill  nature  of  critics. 

While  the  relations  between  Dennis  and  the  "  Spectator " 
were  thus  strained,  Addison's  Cato  was  produced  on  the  four- 
teenth of  April,  1713,  and  met  with  a  success  too  well  known 
to  require  description.  That  the  popularity  of  Cato  was  due 
to  the  force  of  party  spirit  rather  than  to  any  great  intrinsic 
merit  of  the  drama  itself,  is  now  generally  admitted;  but  in 
1713  it  required  considerable  courage  to  attack  a  play  which 
was  so  widely  praised  at  home,  and  which  had  been  translated 
into  French  and  Italian.  Prompted,  however,  by  his  habitual 
antagonism  to  unmerited  popularity,  his  genuine  desire  to 
advance  the  noble  art  of  the  drama,  and  his  frankly  avowed 
willingness  to  "  retort  personal  injuries,"  Dennis  yielded  to  the 
importunities  of  his  small  circle  of  friends  and  prepared  some 
remarks  on  Cato.25  These  Remarks,  however,  were  not  pub- 

22  Original   Letters,   p.    425. 

23  Ibid.,  p.  421.     Dennis  evidently  wrote  to  the  Spectator  several  letters, 
which  have  perished,   of  a  much  more  bitter  nature  than  those  included 
in  his  Essay  on  the  Genius  and  Writings  of  Shakespear:  With  Some  Let- 
ters of  Criticism  to  the  Spectator,  1712,  for  he  says  on  page  66  of  that 
pamphlet :    "  I    am    about    [to   shew    my   just    Resentment]    by   publishing 
three   or   four   modest  Letters   which   I   have  pick'd   and  cull'd  from  the 
numerous  company  of  those  which  are  more  bitter,  and  which  I  resolve  to 
suppress  in  order  to  shew  that  I  have  a  Soul  that  is  capable  of  remem- 
bering Obligations,  as  well  as  avenging  Injuries." 

24  Original  Letters,  p.   167. 

25  Remarks  upon  Cato,  A  Tragedy  By  Mr.  Dennis,  London,   1713. 


68 

lished  immediately  upon  their  composition.  In  fact,  on  the 
nineteenth  of  June,  1713,  probably  soon  after  he  had  finished 
his  criticism,  Dennis  wrote  to  Buckingham,  who  had  evidently 
remonstrated  with  him:26 

"  I  humbly  desire  your  Grace  to  believe,  that  if  you  had  given  me  no 
Caution  I  had  by  no  means  done  anything,  which  might  cause  me  to  for- 
feit your  good  Opinion  of  me.  So  far  were  my  Thoughts  from  that,  that 
I  never  yet  resolv'd  to  publish  those  Remarks.  'Tis  very  likely,  that 
after  your  Grace,  and  my  Lord  Halifax,  and  Two  or  Three  more  have 
perus'd  them,  I  may  send  them  to  the  Author,  and  content  myself,  with 
letting  him  know  my  Power." 

But  this  same  letter  shows  Dennis's  deep  resentment  at  the 
treatment  he  had  received  from  the  "  Spectator,"  which  he 
described  as  "  not  only  an  Assassination  but  one  of  the  blackest 
sort.  It  was  done  in  the  dark,  no  Provocation  in  the  least 
given,  no  Name  to  the  Paper,  and  no  Author  known,  when 
at  the  very  same  Time,  they  openly  profes't  Friendship  to 
me."  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  before  long  the 
oversensitive  and  oversuspicious  old  critic  should  have  per- 
mitted the  publication  of  these  Remarks. 

In  the  Remarks  Dennis's  shrewd,  independent  observa- 
tion frequently  breaks  through  his  respect  for  the  rules  then 
so  generally  accepted  in  judging  the  merits  of  a  play.  In  his 
regard  for  the  unity  of  place  Addison  had  confined  his  various 
scenes  of  conspiracy,  senatorial  council,  and  love  making  all 
to  the  hall  of  the  Governor  of  Utica's  palace,  a  weakness  which 
Dennis  was  quick  to  ridicule.  And  if  he  shows  some  sandy 
wastes  of  criticism,  such  as  his  contention  that  the  play  has 
no  fable,  therefore  it  has  no  moral  and  consequently  is  not 
legitimately  a  tragedy,  we  must  remember  that  he  was  judg- 
ing a  drama  which  has  been  characterized  as  "marking  the 
nearest  approach  in  the  English  theatre  to  the  unreserved 
acceptance  of  the  French  canons." 

Dennis  stated  in  the  preface  to  his  Remarks  that  he  recog- 
nized that  he  invited  abusive  replies ;  but  he  did  not  know  at 
the  time  that  Pope  had  prevailed  upon  Lintot  to  obtain  and 
publish  the  attack  on  Cato,  and  that  he  had  done  so  largely 
to  gain  a  pretense  for  publishing  an  abusive  tract  called  the 

26  Original  Letters,  p.  55. 


Narrative  of  Dr.  R.  N orris,  concerning  the  Strange  and  De- 
plorable Frenzy  of  Mr.  John  Dennis,  An  Officer  in  the  Custom 
House.  But  the  story  of  this  affair  may  best  be  given  in 
Dennis's  own  words  from  the  preface  to  his  Remarks  on  the 
Rape  of  the  Lock: 

"At  the  height  of  his  [Pope's]  profession  of  friendship  for  Mr.  Addi- 
son,  he  could  not  bear  the  success  of  Cato,  but  prevails  upon  B.  L.  to 
engage  me  to  write  and  publish  Remarks  on  that  Tragedy,  which  after  I 
had  done,  A.  P — E,  the  better  to  conceal  himself  from  Mr.  Addison  and 
his  friends,  writes  and  publishes  a  scandalous  Pamphlet  equally  foolish 
and  villainous,  in  which  he  pretends  that  I  am  in  the  hands  of  a  quack 
who  cures  mad  men." 

The  "  imp  of  the  perverse "  which  dwelt  in  Pope  probably 
tempted  him  with  the  triple  pleasure  of  seeing  Cato  attacked, 
Addison  angered  at  Dennis,  and  himself  afforded  another 
excuse  for  ridiculing  the  author  of  the  Reflections  upon  the 
Essay  on  Criticism.  If  Pope  expected  by  such  an  attack  to 
win  favor  with  Addison,  he  was  disappointed ;  for  the  latter 
commissioned  Steele  to  write  the  following  letter  to  the  pub- 
lisher of  the  Remarks  upon  Cato: 

Aug   4,    1713. 
"Mr.  Lintot, 

Mr.  Addison  desires  me  to  tell  you  that  he  wholly  disapproves  the  Man- 
ner of  treating  Mr.  Dennis  in  a  little  Pamphlet  by  the  way  of  Dr.  Morris's. 
Account.  When  he  thinks  fit  to  take  notice  of  Mr.  Dennis's  objections  to 
his  writings,  he  will  do  so  in  a  way  that  Mr.  Dennis  shall  have  no  reason 
to  complain  of.  But  when  the  Papers  above  mentioned  were  offered  to 
be  communicated  to  him,  he  said  he  could  not  either  in  Honour  or  in 
Conscience  be  privy  to  such  a  Treatment,  and  was  sorry  to  hear  of  it. 

I  am,  Sir, 
Your  very  humble  Servant, 

RICHARD  STEELE." 

Just  when  Dennis  learned  the  truth  regarding  the  author- 
ship of  the  Narrative  of  the  Strange  Frenzy,  is  hard  to  de- 
termine. In  1716,  three  years  after  the  publication  of  this 
tract,  appeared  the  True  Character  of  Mr.  Pope,  very  prob- 
ably by  Dennis,  containing  the  query,  "  who  wrote  a  prologue  in 
praise  of  Cato,  and  teas'd  Lintot  to  publish  Remarks  on  it?"27 

21  In  an  article  published  in  the  Athenaeum,  May  8,  1858,  and  practically 
reprinted  in  his  Papers  of  a  Critic,  London,  1878  (I,  243),  Dilke  en- 


70 

A  year  later  in  his  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer,  p.  62, 
Dennis  made  the  following  allusion  to  the  affair:  "And  now 
let  him,  if  he  wishes  to,  have  recourse  to  his  old  Method  of 
Lyes  and  Slander,  and  print  a  second  Dr.  Norris  account."  As 
for  Addison,  his  only  notable  retort  to  Dennis  appeared  in 
the  Spectator,  September  10,  1714,  in  his  discussion  of  modern 
critics,  where,  in  much  the  same  vein  as  that  of  the  253rd 
number  previously  noticed,  he  censured  those  writers  who 
make  it  a  rule  to  fall  upon  every  successful  play.  As  for  the 
critic's  own  plays,  he  went  on,  few  of  them  had  ever  "been 
disgraced  by  a  Run  of  Three  Days."  Then  as  a  final  shot 
he  declared  that  "the  words,  Unity,  Action,  Sentiment,  and 
Diction,  pronounced  with  an  Air  of  Authority,  gave  them 
[the  critics]  a  Figure  among  unlearned  Readers,  who  are  apt 
to  believe  that  they  are  deep  because  they  are  unintelligible." 

These  differences  between  Addison  and  Dennis,  however, 
had  been  marked  but  by  comparatively  few  personalities,  so  we 
may  well  accept  as  probable  Wilson's  statement28  that  Con- 

deavored  to  disprove  Pope's  authorship  of  this  pamphlet.  His  argument 
rests  largely  upon  two  contentions:  first,  that  Dennis's  earliest  recorded 
accusation  of  Pope  as  the  author  did  not  appear  before  1727,  when  he 
published  his  Remarks  upon  the  Rape  of  the  Lock;  and  second,  that  in  a 
letter  to  Caryll,  dated  August  17,  1713,  Pope  denies  writing  "the  whim 
upon  Dennis."  The  first  of  Dilke's  statements  is  disproved  by  the  quo- 
tation cited  in  the  paragraph  above ;  while  the  second  has  been  answered 
thus  by  Courthope  and  Elwin : 

"  Although  Pope  here  denies  that  he  wrote  the  pamphlet,  yet,  when,  in 
i73S>  ne  published  an  extract  from  the  letter  to  Caryll,  in  which  he 
offered  his  pen  in  his  defense  and  applied  the  passage  to  Addison  (see 
Pope's  Works,  VI,  398)  he  added  in  a  note  that  the  defense  to  which  he 
alludes  was  the  very  narrative  of  Dr.  Norris.  The  note  was  repeated  in 
1735,  in  the  acknowledged  edition  of  the  Letters,  and  was  thus  an  open 
confession  that  the  Narrative  was  his  own  work.  The  question  whether 
his  private  denial  or  his  public  avowal  was  false,  seems  to  be  decided  by 
the  consideration  that  he  could  never  have  ventured  to  have  laid  claim 
in  print  to  another  man's  production.  To  this  must  be  added  that  Pope's 
contemporaries  always  spoke  of  it  as  his  undoubted  work,  that  his  literary 
confidant  Warburton  did  the  same,  and  that  no  second  person  was  ever 
named  as  the  author."  Pope's  Works,  VI,  197. 

28 "  But  now  let  us  examine  how  he  used  Mr.  Addison  who  at  Mr. 
Congreve's  Request  (rather  than  to  be  baited  any  more  by  this  Man- 
Tyger)  became  a  subscriber  to  Dennis,  for  his  two  Volumes  of  Select 


71 

greve  induced  Addison  to  subscribe  for  Dennis's  Works,  which 
appeared  in  1717.  But  we  may  question  the  further  state- 
ment of  this  not  unprejudiced  biographer  that  in  an  interview 
with  Rowe  and  Addison  Dennis  promised  the  former  to  burn 
some  remarks  on  the  sentiments  of  Cato  and  "  never  to  en- 
gage in  any  Controversy  against  him."  It  is  true  that  soon 
after  the  appearance  of  the  Remarks  upon  Cato  Dennis  wrote 
some  additional  letters  on  the  sentiments  of  the  play,  which 
he  published  with  his  correspondence  in  1721.  It  is  also  true 

that  the  Mr.  C who  desired  to  examine  the  letters  and 

received  copies  from  Dennis  some  time  about  November  4, 
I7i8,29  may  have  been  Congreve.  But  such  an  act  is  incon- 
sistent with  what  we  know  of  Dennis;  and,  moreover,  these 
letters  evidently  had  a  history  of  which  Wilson  made  no 
mention.  Dennis  states30  that  by  a  trick  he  had  been  "de- 
prived of  [his]  copy  of  these  letters  "  and  his  "  friend  of  the 
original ; "  and  he  then  adds  the  following  hint : 

"  By  what  Artifice  these  two  Letters  were  got  out  of  my  Hands,  by 
what  Fortune  I  recovered  the  Substance  of  them,  and  how  it  came  to 
take  the  form  that  it  now  Has,  I  shall  not  here  declare;  not  the  first 
thro'  regard  for  the  Memory  of  the  Dead ;  nor  the  two  latter  thro'  Re- 
spect for  the  precious  time  of  the  Living." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  incident  to  which  the  aging  and 
sometimes  oversuspicious  critic  alludes,  it  evidently  did  not 
destroy  a  certain  esteem  for  Addison,  for  in  the  paragraph  suc- 
ceeding the  lines  just  quoted  Dennis  expressed  a  desire  to  do 
justice  to  the  memory  of  that  writer,  "who  was  certainly  a 
Learned  and  very  Ingenious  Man :  And  several  of  the  Tattlers 
and  Spectators  which  were  writ  by  him  deserve  the  Applause 
they  met  with."  Nor  did  Dennis  later  neglect  the  oppor- 
tunity for  criticizing  a  comparison  at  Addison's  expense  made 
in  favor  of  Steele  by  Gibber.  In  his  dedication  of  the  Heroic 
Daughter  to  Steele  Gibber  made  the  unfortunate  mistake  of 

Works,  who  promised  him  and  Mr.  Rowe,  that  he  would  burn  some  other 
Remarks  upon  Cato,  which  he  had  by  him,  and  never  again  engage  in  any 
Controversy  against  him."  Memoirs  of  the  Life,  Writings,  and  Amours 
of  William  Congreve  Esquire,  II,  136. 

29  Original  Letters,  preface. 

80  Ibid. 


72 

placing  in  Addison's  mouth,  as  applicable  to  his  relations  with 
Steele  as  a  writer,  the  speech  of  Marc  Antony  concerning 
Octavius  from  Dryden's  All  for  Love: 

"  Fool    that   I    was   Upon   my    Eagle's    Wings 
I   bore   the   Wren   till    I    was   tired   of   soaring, 
And  now  he  mounts  above   me." 

Dennis  referred  to  this  passage  in  the  first  of  the  Sir  John 
Edgar  letters,  directed  against  Steele  during  their  war  in  1719- 
20,  by  declaring31  sarcastically,  "  Gibber  is  to  place  you  among 
the  Gods,  as  the  Romans  did  their  Emperors,  by  making  you 
fly  like  an  Eagle  to  them."  Steele  confessed  that  this  thrust 
provoked  him  to  tears,32  and  he  attempted  to  hit  back ;  but  the 
advantage  on  this  point  was  clearly  with  Dennis. 

Last  of  all  we  may  note  Dennis's  criticisms  of  Addison's 
remarks  on  Paradise  Lost,  which  our  author  included  with  the 
Proposals  for  printing  his  Miscellaneous  Tracts.  In  these 
three  letters  of  Observations  on  the  Paradise  Lost  of  Milton, 
to  Dr.  S.,  the  first  of  which  is  dated  December  9,  1721,  Dennis 
stated  that  Addison  had  made  mention  of  the  same  beauties 
which  he  himself  had  noted  many  years  before  but  had  not 
given  him  any  credit  for  observing  them.  Dennis  declared, 
however,  that  he  would  have  been  willing  to  overlook  this' 
omission,  if  Addison  had  only  done  justice  to  Milton.  The 
old  critic  then  proceeded  to  reiterate  his  familiar  statement  that 
Milton's  chief  excellence  lay  in  his  sublimity  and  to  show  how 
the  "Spectator"  had  failed  to  appreciate  this  vital  piece  of 
criticism.  But  the  tone  of  these  letters  is  far  from  bitter ;  and 
Dennis  praised  Addison  in  this  his  last  utterance  regarding  that 
writer,  as  "  the  most  ingenious  if  not  the  most  learned  "  of  the 
commentators  on  Milton. 

Longer  and  more  complicated  than  the  history  of  Dennis's 
dealings  with  Addison  is  the  less  pleasant  record  of  his  rela- 
tions with  Steele,  which  began  about  1700  with  their  coopera- 
tion in  the  reply  to  Blackmore's  Satire  against  Wit  and  ended 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  later  with  Dennis's  Remarks  on 
the  Conscious  Lovers.  Steele's  contribution  to  the  answer 

81  The  Theatre,  II,  342. 
83  Ibid.,  I,   101. 


73 

to  Blackmore33  was  written  in  behalf  of  Addison,  while  Dennis 
was  replying  to  the  comparison  of  his  wit  with  the  gold  on  a 
gilded  feather.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  two 
lived  on  friendly  terms  during  the  first  decade  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  for  Dennis  spoke  of  the  Captain  as  "my  old 
friend,"  and  he  evidently  exerted  considerable  influence  in 
forming  Steele's  critical  opinions.34  In  politics,  too,  they  had 
a  common  interest,  for  they  were  both  good  whigs ;  and  though 
Steele  lived  on  a  much  more  lavish  scale,  they  were  alike  in  the 
impecuniosity  which  put  their  friendship  to  the  test  of  calling 
on  each  other  in  times  of  need.  Indeed  the  first  record  of  their 
relations  after  the  collaboration  against  Blackmore  is  the  previ- 
ously mentioned  letter  of  I7io,35  sent  by  the  embarrassed 
Dennis,  which  failed  to  evoke  any  reply  from  his  equally  im- 
provident friend.  Both  of  these  men,  however,  were  quick  to 
respond  to  kind  approaches  and  to  forgive  injuries,  so  it  is 
probable  that  even  after  the  incident  just  mentioned  their 
pressing  wants  induced  them  occasionally  to  call  upon  each 
other  for  help.36  For  example,  Dennis  made  the  following 
statement  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Steele:37 

"Thou  hast  owed  me  these  two  years  twelve  Guineas  for  the  first  pay- 
ment of  twelve  certain  Receipts,  which  upon  taking  the  Receipts,  thou 
didst  promise  to  pay  in  a  Week.  But  since  that  time  I  never  could  see 
either  the  money  or  the  Receipts;  so  that  if  I  should  enquire  for  thee, 
the  answer  that  Snug  thy  servant  would  make,  would  certainly  be,  the 
Ghost  will  not  appear  today."38 

33  Commendatory  Verses  on  the  Author  of  the  Two  Arthurs,  and  the 
Satire  against  Wit,  1700. 

34 "  Dennis  .  .  .  gab  ohne  Zweifel  dem  jungeren  und  weniger  gelehrten 
Steele  .  .  .  manche  Anregung."  Hamelius,  Die  Kritik  in  der  Englischen 
Literatur  des  17.  und  18.  Jahrhunderts,  Leipsic,  1897,  P-  J33« 

88  Supra. 

38  Possibly  Dennis  is  acknowledging  a  loan  from  Steele  in  the  following 
sentence  in  his  letter  to  the  Spectator,  October  23,  1711:  "About  January 
last  I  happen'd  to  have  an  Obligation  to  a  Certain  Author,  an  Obligation 
which  reposed  a  Trust  in  me  which  I  have  since  discharged."  An  Essay 
on  the  Genius  and  Writings  of  Shakespear:  with  Several  Letters  of  Criti- 
cism to  the  Spectator,  1712,  p.  65. 

87  The  Theatre,  II,  421. 

38 "  It  is  said  that  having  been  bail  for  this  gentleman  [Dennis]  he 
[Steele]  was  arrested  on  his  default;  and  the  only  answer  by  his  friend, 


74 

Steele's  embarrassment  with  his  creditors  in  1714  afforded  oc- 
casion for  Swift  to  couple  his  name  with  that  of  our  author  in 
an  imitation  of  Horace  called  John  Dennis  the  Sheltering  Poet's 
Invitation  to  Richard  Steele,  the  Secluded  Party  Writer,  to 
come  and  live  with  him  in  the  Mint.  Steele  is  here  admonished 
to  be  mindful  of  Dennis's  advice  and  to  exchange  his  luxurious 
home  from  which  he  was  unable  to  stir  for  the  humble 
security  of  the  Mint. 

The  humor  of  this  poem  is  heightened  by  a  knowledge  of 
the  relations  then  existing  between  Steele  and  Dennis;  for  it 
was  published  not  many  months  after  the  "  Cato "  contro- 
versy, when  the  "  Spectator "  was  saying  unpleasant  things 
about  critics  who  had  failed  as  authors.  For  most  of  these 
remarks  Steele  was  blamed  by  Dennis,  though  they  had  really 
been  the  work  of  Addison.  It  is  true  that  in  the  Taller  Steele 
had  not  hesitated  to  satirize  the  critics  and  had  in  at  least  one 
instance  possibly  given  Dennis  the  cut  direct;39  but  he  had 
written  neither  the  4Oth  nor  the  7Oth  Spectators  credited  to 
him  in  Dennis's  replies  to  those  numbers.40  In  fact  none  of 
the  hits  in  the  Spectator  at  the  critic  and  his  doctrines  and 
peculiarities  were  written  by  Steele,  so  that,  from  one  point  of 
view  at  least,  Dennis's  resentment  toward  him  as  manifested 
in  the  letter  Upon  the  first  publishing  the  Guardians,  was  not 
his  due.41 

But  the  five  years  that  followed  so  mellowed  any  resentment 
existing  between  the  two  that  after  Steele  had  been  made 
patentee  of  the  Drury-Lane  theatre,  he  invited  Dennis  to 

when  he  was  informed  of  the  circumstances  was  *  S'death :  why  did 
he  not  keep  out  of  the  way  as  I  do  ! '"  Ireland's  Hogarth,  II,  86.  The 
story  first  appeared  in  the  Answer  to  a  Whimsical  Pamphlet,  Called  The 
Character  of  Sir  John  Edgar,  1720,  one  of  the  most  unfair  attacks  ever 
made  on  Dennis. 

89 "They  took  up  the  whole  discourse;  sometimes  the  Critic  growing 
passionate,  and  when  repremanded  by  the  Wit  of  any  Trip  or  hesitation 
in  his  Voice,  he  would  answer,  Mr.  Dryden  made  such  a  character  on  such 
an  Occasion  break  off  in  this  same  manner;  so  that  the  Stop  was  accord- 
ing to  Nature  as  a  Man  in  Passion  should  do."  29th  Taller.  See  also  the 
246th  Tatler. 

40  Original  Letters,  pp.   57,   62. 

tt  Ibid.,  p.  284. 


75 

dinner  at  his  home,  along  with  Gibber  and  Booth,  there  to 
read  over  the  adaptation  of  Coriolanus,  prepared  so  long 
before,  with  a  view  to  staging  it.  Probably  the  suggestion  of 
putting  the  Invader  on  the  boards  came  from  its  hard  pressed 
author ;  but  be  that  •  as  it  may,  the  alteration  was  received 
kindly  by  the  managers  of  the  theatre,  who  promised  to  present 
the  drama  early  the  following  season.  The  winter  came,  and 
Dennis  waited  anxiously  but  in  vain  for  the  staging  of  his 
play.  Late  in  March,  1718,  he  wrote  a  strong  but  friendly 
letter  of  protest  to  Steele,42  stating  that  he  was  overwhelmed 
with  grief  and  sickness,  and  complaining  that  Sir  Richard's 
"actually  breaking  [his]  Word  or  being  prefectly  quiet  while 
the  Managers  broke  it,"  had  brought  him  "within  the  appre- 
hension of  immediate  necessity." 

Dennis  probably  received  a  conciliatory  answer,  for  on  the 
fourth  of  the  following  September,  about  the  time  of  the  open- 
ing of  the  theatre,  he  sent  to  Steele  the  two  volumes  of  his 
Works  with  a  letter  devoted  for  the  most  part  to  an  explana- 
tion of  his  reasons  for  republishing  his  writings,  but  contain- 
ing also  a  reminder  of  the  wrongs  he  had  suffered  from  the 
managers.  It  seems  probable  that  it  was  through  the  inter- 
vention of  the  good  hearted  Steele  that  within  the  next  month 
the  parts  of  the  play  were  given  out  and  rehearsals  began. 
Some  of  the  parts  were  assigned  in  a  way  that  irritated  Dennis ; 
but  though  he  uttered  a  seemingly  well  grounded  protest  against 
the  selection  of  the  tenth  of  November  as  the  opening  night, 
since  the  town  was  then  engrossed  in  preparations  for  the 
arrival  of  the  King,  he  yielded  in  this  matter,  as  in  others, 
to  the  managers.  That  they  might  not  conflict  with  the 
author's  night  at  the  Haymarket  of  Chas.  BeckingharrVs  Henry 
IV  of  France,  the  managers  then  induced  Dennis,  according 
to  his  own  story,43  to  consent  to  put  off  the  presentation  of  the 
Invader;  but  he  was  surprised  when  he  learned  from  the  bills 
that  the  postponement  was  for  a  single  night  only,  thus  bring- 

albid.,  103. 

48  Preface  to  the  Invader,  which  furnishes  most  of  our  information  con- 
cerning this  affair. 


76 

ing  his  benefit  on  Friday,  which  he  considered  the  worst  day 
of  the  week. 

Dennis  also  complained  that  the  play  had  been  withdrawn 
just  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion  of  the  return  of  the  King 
and  parliament,  at  a  juncture  when  it  might  be  expected  that 
a  drama  that  had  been  paying  expenses  would,  under  improved 
conditions,  soon  prove  profitable.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  the  anonymous  author  of  a  Critic  no  Wit;  or  Remarks  on 
Mr.  Dennis's  Late  Play,  1720,  states  (p.  i),  "I  have  been 
credibly  inform'd  that  when  your  Third  Night  fail'd,  thro'  the 
Weakness  of  the  Play,  your  own  known  Want  of  Merit,  and 
the  just  Resentment  of  the  Town,  you  have  so  often  insolently 
abus'd,  they  generously  offer'd  to  take  that  night  upon  them- 
selves, and  give  you  a  Month's  Time  to  make  your  own 
Interest ;  and  then  to  take  what  Night  or  Play  you  thought  fit." 
In  weighing  the  evidence  of  this  author,  however,  we  must 
remember  that  his  attack  on  Dennis  is  very  bitter  and  in  some 
other  respects  not  very  trustworthy.  Furthermore,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  attitude  of  at  least  one  of  the  managers  of  the 
theatre,  Gibber,  was  not  the  most  considerate,  as  is  shown  by 
the  beginning  of  the  epilogue  he  wrote  for  Mrs.  Oldfield,44 
lines  which  Dennis  might  justly  resent: 

"  'Gad,  I've  a  mind  to  Damn  his  Epilogue ! 
His  Play  I  need  not — no  poor  wretched  Elf ! 
That  Matter's  Rug !  He's  done  the  Jobb  himself !  "* 

"  This  play  was  acted  on  Wednesday,"  Dennis  states  in  the  preface, 
"to,  an  audience  of  £100,  for  so  much  they  own'd  to  me.  It  was  favor- 
ably received  by  the  audience.  There  did  some  malice  appear  twice,  but 
it  was  immediately  drown'd  by  the  utmost  Clamours  of  Applause.  On 
Thursday  the  Play  was  acted  again  to  an  Audience  of  between  50  and 
three  score  1.  And  on  Friday  to  an  Audience  of  between  60-70  1.  Con- 
sidering the  disadvantages  under  which  we  lay,  here  was  fair  Hope  for 
the  Future.  And  on  Friday,  after  the  play  was  done,  these  tender-hearted 
Managers  caused  another  to  be  given  out,  to  the  Astonishment  of  the 
Audience,  the  Disappointment  of  those  who  had  reserved  themselves  for 
the  sixth  Day,  and  the  Retrenching  of  3  Parts  in  4  of  my  Profits." 

44  In  Gibber's  Lives  of  the  Poets,  IV,  218,  it  is  stated  that  Mrs.  Oldfield 
"  spoke  with  universal  applause "   this   epilogue  written  by   Colley   Gibber, 
"  for   which   poor,   peevish,   jealous    Dennis   abused   them   both." 

45  It  is  not  surprising  that  after  such  back  handed  commendation  Dennis 
should  nurse  his  wrath  against  Gibber  till  it  found  expression  at  the  be- 


77 

Our  only  other  account  of  the  reception  of  this  play  is  that 
given  in  the  fourth  volume  of  Gibber's  Lives  of  the  Poets, 
p.  218: 

"  This  piece  met  with  some  opposition  on  the  first  night ;  and  on  the 
fourth  another  play  was  given  out.  The  second  night's  audience  was  very 
small,  though  the  play  was  exceedingly  well  acted.  The  third  night  had 
not  the  charges  in  money ;  the  fourth  was  still  worse,  and  then  another 
play  was  given  out,  not  a  place  being  taken  in  the  boxes  for  the  ensuing 
night." 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  this  statement  with  Dennis's,  and 
to  notice  how  much  more  exact  is  that  of  our  author. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  Steele  was  in  any  way  respon- 
sible for  the  hasty  withdrawal  of  Dennis's  play,  for  whatever 
interest  he  may  have  taken  in  the  details  of  the  management 
of  the  theatre  probably  suffered  at  this  time  from  his  absorp- 
tion in  the  fierce  political  fight  then  waging.  The  Sunderland 
ministry,  by  whose  grace  Steele  held  his  position  as  patentee 
of  the  theatre,  were  urging  the  bill  for  limiting  the  power  of 
creating  new  peers ;  and  Sir  Richard,  with  a  praiseworthy  inde- 
pendence, was  so  prominent  in  resisting  what  he  considered  an 
unjust  measure  that  he  was  chosen  as  the  first  speaker  for  an 
opposition  which  proved  too  strong  for  the  ministry.  Their  de- 
feat, however,  left  them  in  power,  so  they  very  naturally,  if  not 
very  nobly,  took  Steele  to  task.  The  first  punishment  came  in 
the  form  of  an  order  from  the  Lord  Chamberlain  that  Gibber 
should  no  longer  act  in  the  Theatre-Royal  nor  share  in  the 

ginning  of  the  next  year  in  his  letters  to  Steele  On  the  Character  and  Con- 
duct of  Sir  John  Edgar  (Theatre,  II,  339  ff.),  where  he  attacked  that 
actor  so  bitterly,  especially  on  the  ground  of  impiety,  that  Gibber  is  said 
to  have  inserted  the  following  advertisement  in  Defoe's  newspaper,  the 
Daily  Post :  "  Ten  Pounds  will  be  paid  by  Mr.  Gibber  at  the  Theatre- 
Royal  to  any  Person  who  shall  (by  a  legal  Proof)  discover  the  author 
of  a  pamphlet  intituled,  The  Character  and  Conduct  of  Sir  John  Edgar, 
&"  (Theatre,  II,  396,  n.).  Such  an  advertisement  had,  of  course,  but 
little  terror  for  Dennis,  who,  two  years  later,  again  paid  his  respects  in 
two  short  diatribes  against  Gibber,  whom  he  addressed  as  Judas  Iscariot 
(Original  Letters,  pp.  61,  70).  Steele  devoted  the  seventh  number  of  the 
Theatre  to  a  defense  of  Gibber's  authorship  of  the  Fool  of  Fashion,  which 
had  been  questioned  by  Dennis  and  others.  See  also  the  Original  Letters, 
p.  in. 


78 

management.46  In  taking  such  a  step  the  ministry  were  act- 
ing within  their  legal  rights,  so  Steele  seized  upon  what  was 
probably  his  most  effective  means  of  securing  redress  by  begin- 
ning on  January  2,  1719/20,  a  new  journal  called  the  Theatre. 

In  the  meantime  Dennis  had  published  the  Invader  and  had 
dedicated  it  to  Newcastle,  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  who  received 
the  play  graciously  and  ordered  the  writer  a  reward.47  Early 
in  December,  1719,  the  breech  between  Dennis  and  Steele  was 
further  widened  by  the  appearance  of  an  abusive  tract48  charg- 
ing the  critic  with  "111  Nature,  Ignorance,  Impudence,  and 
Self  Sufficiency,"  which  Dennis  believed  had  been  instigated  by 
Sir  Richard.  Before  the  close  of  the  month,  therefore,  our 
author  published  an  onslaught  on  Steele,  entitled  the  Character 
and  Conduct  of  Sir  John  Edgar,  calling  himself  sole  Monarch 
of  Drury-Lane;  and  his  Three  Deputy  Governors;  in  Two 
Letters  to  Sir  John  Edgar.  This  pamphlet  discussed  Steele's 
life,  characterized  his  plays  as  adaptations  of  the  works  of 
other  dramatists,  and  condemned  bitterly  his  associate  Gibber. 
Mr.  Aitken  calls49  these  letters  venomous  and  in  all  probability 
hireling.  The  pamphlet,  however,  is  much  milder  than  the 
Remarks  of  a  School  boy,  which  had  just  appeared  against 
the  critic,  and  there  is  no  proof  that  Dennis  undertook  the  task 
upon  any  but  his  own  initiative. 

The  first  response  evoked  by  these  letters  was  an  anonymous 
tract,  much  coarser  and  less  just  than  Dennis's,  bearing  the 

48  The  ground  for  this  action,  given  in  the  Answer  to  the  Case  of  Sir 
Richard  Steele,  Theatre,  II,  532,  was  that  in  the  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  the 
Heroic  Daughter  Gibber  had  abused  his  Majesty  and  the  Ministry ;  that 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  upon  directing  Gibber  to  assign  a  certain  part  to  a 
certain  actor,  had  been  told  "that  it  could  not  be  done,  because  the  part 
belonged  to  one  of  the  Managers " ;  and  that  upon  the  Lord  Chamber- 
lain's insisting,  Gibber  had  laughed  and  refused  to  obey. 

47  Dennis  heard  of  Newcastle's  direction  through  a  friend  who  was  pres- 
ent at  the  time  the  order  was  given.     Owing  to  the  machinations  of  one 
of  the  Duke's  servants  Dennis  did  not  receive  the  gift  till  the  latter  part 
of  March.     Theatre,   II,   402. 

48 A  Critic  no  Wit:  or  Remarks  on  Mr.  Dennis's  late  Play,  call'd  the, 
Invader  of  his  Country.  In  a  Letter  from  a  School  Boy  to  the  Author, 
1720.  Advertised  in  the  Post  Boy  for  December  i,  1719:  "This  day  is 
published,  A  Critic  no  Wit;  or  Remarks  on  Mr.  Dennis's  late  Play  &c." 

48  Life  of  Richard  Steele,  1889,  II,  231. 


79 

title,  An  Answer  to  a  Whimsical  Pamphlet,  call'd  The  Character 
of  Sir  John  Edgar,  &,  Humbly  inscrib'd  to  Sir  Tremendous 
Longinus.  Written  by  Sir  John  Edgar's  Baker,  mentioned  in 
the  Third  Theatre.  "  Owl,"  "  Mongrel  cur,"  and  "  Pole  cat " 
are  among  the  names  bestowed  upon  Dennis  in  this,  the  most 
grossly  personal  tract  of  the  whole  controversy.  Steele  him- 
self took  no  notice  of  Dennis's  letters  to  Sir  John  Edgar  before 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  numbers  of  the  Theatre,  February 
6  and  9,  1720.  Then,  acting  on  his  belief  that  most  enemies 
may  best  be  conquered  by  laughing  at  them,  he  indulged  in  a 
good  deal  of  banter,  though  the  tone  of  his  papers  is,  on  the 
whole,  little  superior  to  that  of  Dennis's  letters.50 

Toward  the  close  of  March  Dennis  addressed  to  the  Duke 
of  Newcastle  his  third  and  fourth  Edgar  letters.51  In  almost 
every  controversy  the  disputants  are  likely  to  grow  less  judicial 
with  the  progress  of  the  argument,  and  Dennis's  pamphlet 
shows  him  no  exception  to  the  rule.  It  is,  however,  much 
more  moderate  than  the  tract  by  Sir  John  Edgar's  Baker 
mentioned  above;  and  if  some  of  the  shots,  such  as  that  at 
Steele's  English  as  Hibernian,  fall  short  of  the  mark,  others, 
such  as  the  thrust  at  his  military  record,  must  be  confessed 
palpable  hits. 

This  same  month,  March  29th,  Steele  published  in  pamphlet 
form  an  account  of  the  differences  between  himself  and  the 
Lord  Chamberlain,52  which  was  answered  some  ten  days  later 

M  Others  were  drawn  into  this  contest  with  Steele,  of  whom  the  most 
prominent  was  the  writer  for  Applebee's,  who  signed  his  unimpassioned 
and  pedantic  articles  by  the  name  "  Sir  Andrew  Artlove."  The  title  of  his 
letters  reads,  A  Full  Consideration  and  Confutation  of  Sir  John  Edgar, 
By  Sir  Andrew  Artlove,  Knight  and  Baronet.  In  Three  Letters  to  Mr. 
Applebee.  These  appeared  in  Applebee's  Original  Journal,  February  13, 
20  and  27,  1720  and  were  republished  by  Nichols  in  the  Theatre,  II,  450 
ff.  Far  more  judicial  and  fair  minded  was  the  writer  of  the  Anti-Theatre, 
a  journal  of  which  fifteen  numbers  have  been  preserved.  See  the  Theatre, 
II,  227-313. 

51  The  Character  and  Conduct  of  Sir  John  Edgar  and  his  Three  Deputy 
Governors,  during  the  Administration  of  the  late  Separate  Ministry.  In  a 
Third  and  Fourth  Letter  to  the  Knight.  With  a  Picture  of  Sir  John, 
Drawn  with  a  Pen,  After  the  Life,  1720. 

62  The  State  of  the  Case  between  the  Lord  Chamberlain  of  His  Majes- 
ty's Household  and  the  Governor  of  the  Royal  Company  of  Comedians. 


80 

by  an  anonymous  tract  which  Mr.  Aitken  considers  Dennis's.53 
He  bases  his  belief  largely  upon  the  following  statement  in  the 
pamphlet : 

"  I  have  not  room  here  to  take  notice  of  his  unjust  and  barbarous  treat- 
ment of  Gentlemen  of  merit  and  learning  during  the  whole  course  of  his 
Administration  whose  plays  he  has  not  only  kept  from  being  read  and 
acted,  but  could  not  be  prevailed  within  six  years  to  return  them  to  their 
authors." 

It  is  true,  as  Mr.  Aitken  observes,54  that  Dennis  could  write 
feelingly  upon  such  a  matter,  for  he  himself  had  suffered  thus 
with  his  Invader;  but  it  may  be  replied  that  this  anonymous 
author  did  not  write  with  anything  like  the  warmth  Dennis 
exhibited  at  this  stage  of  the  controversy.  It  is  also  to  be 
added  that  this  pamphlet  attacked  Etheredge's  Man  of  Mode, 
which  Dennis  was  soon  to  praise  at  the  expense  of  Steele's 
Conscious  Lovers.  Again,  it  seems  to  the  present  writer  at 
least,  the  diction  of  this  tract  is  marked  by  few  or  none  of 
Dennis's  pet  phrases;  and  even  the  most  casual  reader  will 
perceive  that  the  style  lacks  that  stamp  of  virility  so  notable  in 
almost  all  of  the  critic's  work.  Against  Dennis's  authorship 
of  the  pamphlet  may  also  be  urged  the  statement  in  its  opening 
paragraph :  "  The  reader  must  know,  that  I  have  not  the  honour 
of  the  least  acquaintance  with  his  Grace  [the  Duke  of  New- 
castle] nor  am  I  at  all  known  to  him."  While  we  must  admit, 
of  course,  that  few  of  the  pamphleteers  of  the  time  were  above 
lying  to  throw  the  reader  off  the  scent,  we  must  also  remember 
that  Dennis  has  never  been  convicted  of  a  deliberate  falsehood. 
There  now  ensued  a  lull  in  the  quarrel  between  Dennis  and 
Steele,  broken  only  by  the  former's  shot  at  Gibber  in  the  letter 
to  Cromwell55  concerning  the  authorship  of  the  Fool  of 
Fashion.  Dennis  added  the  Invader  to  the  1721  edition  of  his 

With  the  Opinions  of  Pemberton,  Northey,  and  Parker,  concerning  the 
Theatre.  Steele  here  maintained  that  Newcastle  was  infringing  upon  his 
legal  rights ;  and  he  estimated  that  the  intrusion  had  lost  him  some  £9800. 

53  The  State  of  the  Case  between  the  Lord  Chamberlain  of  His  Majesty's 
Household  and  Sir  Richard  Steele,  as  represented  by  that  Knight,  re-stated, 
in  vindication  of  King  George,  and  the  most  Noble  Duke  of  Newcastle. 

"Aitken's   Life  of  Richard  Steele,   II,   231. 

65  Original  Letters,  p.   138. 


81 

Works,  thus  showing  that  he  maintained  a  good  opinion  of  the 
play  despite  its  reception;  and  in  the  same  year  he  published 
a  part  of  his  correspondence  with  Steele  in  his  Original  Letters. 
There  was,  however,  no  further  serious  outbreak  till  No- 
vember, 1722,  when  the  critic's  wrath  was  aroused  by  the 
manner  in  which  Steele's  forthcoming  drama,  the  Conscious 
Lovers,  was  being  advertised.  "  His  Play  has  been  trotted  as 
far  as  Edinburg  northward,  and  as  far  as  Wales  westward," 
Dennis  declared.56  And  he  added,  "  Now  Advertisements  have 
been  sent  to  the  Newspapers  to  the  Effect  that  the  Comedy  in 
Rehersal  is,  in  the  Opinion  of  Excellent  Judges,  the  very  best 
that  ever  came  on  the  English  Stage/'  This  gentle  art  of 
advertising  kindled  Dennis's  habitual  resentment  to  cabals,  so, 
with  a  lamentable  lack  of  discretion,  he  proceeded  to  show  that 
the  play  would  be  worthless  because  the  writer  knew  nothing 
of  the  nature  of  comedy.57  In  support  of  his  contention 
Dennis  reverted  to  the  65th  Spectator,  published  a  dozen  years 
before,  where  Steele  had  attacked  Etheredge's  Sir  Fopling 
Flutter  chiefly  on  moral  grounds.  In  his  pamphlet  the  critic 
maintained  the  idea  familiar  in  his  time  that  ridicule  is  the 
proper  object  of  comedy  as  terror  and  pity  of  tragedy;  that 
comedy  instructs  through  its  characters;  and  that  in  repre- 
senting Sir  Fopling  Flutter  Etheredge  had  drawn  a  character 
which  made  vice  ridiculous.  Though  this  is  on  the  whole  a 
well  written  criticism,  free  from  the  bitterness  that  had  marked 
many  of  the  preceding  pamphlets,  Steele's  friends  were  so 
forward  in  his  defense  that  Dennis  afterwards  stated58  that 
"instead  of  meeting  with  Thanks  which  I  expected  ...  I 
found  myself  in  the  same  situation  which  Surley  was,  upon 
discovering  the  Cheat  in  the  Alchymist." 

"Preface  to  the  Defense  of  Sir  Fopling  Flutter. 

07  A  Defense  of  Sir  Fopling  Flutter,  A  Comedy  Written  by  Sir  George 
Etheredge.  In  which  Defense  is  shewn,  that  Sir  Fopling,  that  Merry 
Knight,  was  rightly  compos'd  by  the  Knight  his  Father,  to  answer  the 
Ends  of  Comedy;  and  that  he  has  been  barbarously  and  scurrilously 
attack'd  by  the  Knight  his  Brother,  in  the  65th  Spectator.  By  which  it 
appears  That  the  Latter  Knight  knows  nothing  of  the  Nature  of  Comedy, 
London,  1722. 

58  Preface  to  the  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers. 
7 


82 

Dennis's  pamphlet  appeared  on  the  2nd  of  November,  1722 ; 
five  days  later  the  Conscious  Lovers  was  acted  with  great  suc- 
cess; and  on  the  2Qth  of  the  same  month  was  published  an 
Epistle  to  Sir  Richard  Steele  on  his  Play  called  the  Conscious 
Lovers,  By  B.  Victor.  This  last  named  writer  was  a  young 
man  who  had  just  been  introduced  to  Steele  and  was,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  later  account,59  readily  induced  to  reply  to 
Dennis.  His  pamphlet  need  not  detain  us  longer  than  to  note 
that  he  called  Dennis  "  Apemantus,  the  Man  Hater,"  who  with 
"  a  certain  cant  of  words  " — "  has  set  up  for  a  formidable  and 
judicious  Critick";60  and  that  he  attributes  to  Dennis  the 
adage,  "  He  who  will  make  a  pun  will  pick  a  pocket."61  When 

09  History  of  the  Theatre  of  London  and  Dublin,  From  the  Year  1730  to 
the  Present  Time,  1761,  I,  97.  Cf.  D.  N.  B.  sub  Victor. 

60  Cf.  c.  Addison's  remarks  on  Dennis  in  the  253rd  Spectator,  Supra. 

61 "  Mr.  Purcell  and  Mr.  Congreve  going  into  a  Tavern,  by  chance  met 
De — s,  who  went  in  with  'em ;  after  a  glass  or  two  had  pass'd,  Mr.  Pur- 
cell  having  some  private  business  with  Mr.  Congreve,  wanted  De — s  out 
of  the  Room,  and  not  knowing  a  more  certain  Way  than  Punning  (for 
you  are  to  understand,  Sir,  that  Mr.  De — s  is  as  much  surpris'd  at  a  Pun 
as  at  a  Bailiff)  he  proceeded  after  the  following  Manner :  he  pull'd  the 
Bell,  and  call'd  2  or  3  Times,  but  no  one  answering,  he  put  his  hand 
under  the  Table  and  looking  full  at  Dennis  he  said,  I  think  this  Table 
is  like  the  Tavern ;  says  De — s  (with  his  usual  profane  Phrase)  God's 
death,  Sir,  How  is  this  Table  like  the  Tavern?  Why,  says  Mr.  Purcell, 
because  there  is  no  Drawer  in  it. 

"  Says  De — s  (Starting  up)  God's  death  Sir,  the  Man  that  would  make 
such  an  execrable  Pun  as  that  in  my  Company,  would  pick  my  Pocket, 
and  so  left  the  Room." 

This  story  is  quoted  in  Notes  and  Queries,  6th  Series,  XI,  511. 

The  town  seems  to  have  been  well  acquainted  with  Dennis's  aversion  to 
puns,  for  the  laughs  on  that  score  at  his  expense  are  not  infrequent. 
One  of  the  most  notable  of  these  references  is  that  by  Fielding  in  his 
Annotations  of  H.  Scriblerus  Secundus,  accompanying  his  Tragedy  of 
Tragedies,  or  the  Life  and  Death  of  Tom  Thumb  the  Great:  "The  man 
who  writ  this  wretched  pun,  says  Mr.  D — ,  would  pick  your  pocket; 
which  he  proceeds  to  show  not  only  bad  in  itself  but  doubly  so  on  this 
solemn  occasion.  And  yet  in  that  excellent  play  of  Liberty  Asserted  we 
find  something  very  much  resembling  a  pun  in  the  mouth  of  a  Mistress 
who  is  parting  with  the  lover  she  is  fond  of : 

'  Ul.     Oh    mortal    woe !    one    kiss    and    then    farewell. 


83 

Dennis  published  the  defense  of  Sir  Fopling  Flutter  he  declared 
that  he  should  later  criticize  Steele's  new  comedy;  and  he 
fulfilled  this  promise  the  following  January62  by  issuing  his 
Remarks  on  a  Play,  call'd  The  Conscious  Lovers,  a  Comedy. 
Dennis  here  defended  himself  against  the  charge  of  ill  nature68 
and  maintained  that,  as  Steele  and  his  company  had  done  him 
wrongs  that  did  not  fall  within  the  cognizance  of  the  law,  he 
was  in  a  state  of  nature  for  getting  what  justice  he  could. 
The  criticism  itself,  however,  is  practically  free  from  any  per- 
sonal abuse  and  is  devoted  largely  to  comparing  the  Conscious 
Lovers  with  its  source,  Terrence's  Andria.  These  Remarks 
do  not  constitute  a  great  piece  of  criticism,  but  they  form  one 
of  the  most  judicial  pamphlets  of  the  entire  controversy. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  December,  I722,64  appeared  a  tract 
against  Dennis  less  moderate  than  Victor's,  in  which  almost 
the  only  pretense  to  criticism  is  that  made  in  the  title:  Sir 
Richard  Steele  and  his  New  Comedy,  call'd  the  Conscious 
Lovers,  vindicated  from  the  malicious  Aspersions  of  Mr.  John 
Dennis,  Wherein  Mr.  Dennis's  vile  Criticisms  in  Defense  of 
Sir  Fopling  Flutter  are  Detected  and  Exposed,  and  the  Author 
of  them  Shewn  to  Know  Nothing  of  Criticism.  One  sentence, 
chosen  almost  at  random,  may  be  quoted  to  show  the  nature  of 
nearly  the  entire  pamphlet :  "  Men  set  up  for  critics,  who  have 
no  other  Recommendation  [but  ill  nature]  .  .  .  they  snarl,  and 
under  correction  they  bark,  and  if  they  themselves  cannot  sing, 
they  are  resolved  to  bark  outrageously." 

Quite  different  from  this  vindication  of  Steele  was  another 

Irene.     The    Gods    have    given    to    others    to    fare    well, 
O  miserably  must  Irene  fare.'  " 

The  Complete  Works  of  Henry  Fielding,  New  York,  1902,  II,  40. 

82  Published  on  the  24th  of  January,  1723  (Daily  Journal).  The  British 
Journal,  Sat.,  Jan.  19,  1723,  advertises  for  Monday  these  Remarks.  The 
Post  Boy  of  Jan.  26,  1723,  advertises  it  for  "this  day." 

* "  The  Truth  of  the  affair  is,  that  no  English  Author  of  any  note 
has  commended  as  many  English  Poets  as  I  have.  I  shall  give  a  list 
some  of  these :  Shakespere,  Ben  Johnson,  Milton,  Butler,  Roscommon,  Den- 
ham,  Waller,  Dryden,  Wycherley,  Otway,  Etheredge,  Shadwell,  Crown, 
Philips."  Preface  to  the  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers. 

"Aitken's  Life  of  Richard  Steele,   II,   284. 


84 

pamphlet  which  appeared  in  1723  called  the  Censor  Censured*5 
a  dialogue  in  which  Jack  Freeman  (Dennis  had  given  this  name 
to  the  principal  speaker  in  his  Impartial  Critick  and  had  dedi- 
cated his  Iphigenia  to  his  friend  Mr.  John  Freeman)  indicated 
the  weaknesses  of  Steele's  play  in  an  unprejudiced  and  some- 
what humorous  manner.  Toward  the  close  of  the  dialogue 
Dennis  is  represented  as  entering.  Freeman  proceeds  to  show 
that  the  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers  are  no  better  than 
the  play  itself,  whereupon  Dennis  retorts,  "  I  must  tell  you  in 
plain  terms  that  you  have  no  more  sense  than  the  Knight." 

With  this  pamphlet  ended  the  four  years  of  controversy. 
The  managers  of  the  theatre  soon  came  to  quarrel  among 
themselves;  and  the  remaining  six  years  of  Steele's  life  were 
filled  with  litigation,  sickness,  and  debt.  We  possess  no  record 
of  further  relations  between  him  and  Dennis,  and  it  may  be 
doubted  if  there  were  any.  In  the  history  that  has  just  been 
sketched  there  is  comparatively  little  that  reflects  discredit 
upon  Steele,  and  not  so  much  as  has  been  generally  believed  on 
Dennis.  That  the  old  critic  should  have  felt  himself  wronged 
is  perfectly  explicable.  It  is  unfair  to  characterize  his  retorts 
as  the  blows  of  a  flail,66  as  has  been  done  by  one  writer,  or  to 
state  that  he  was  constantly  the  aggressor.  For  the  most  part 
the  relations  between  Dennis  and  Steele  during  these  twenty- 
five  years  were  amicable.  These  peaceful  times,  however, 
leave  but  little  to  record,  so  that  in  emphasizing  the  quarrels 
of  a  few  months  or  years,  we  are  likely  to  lose  sight  of  the 
long  periods  of  friendship  between  these  two  impetuous  and 
impecunious  associates. 

Quite  different  from  his  relations  with  Steele  were  those  of 
Dennis  with  Swift;  for,  if  we  accept  the  critic's  own  state- 
ment,67 he  was  a  stranger  to  the  great  satirist  in  1711,  and 
after  that  time  would  probably  have  refused  to  meet  him.  We 

66  The  Censor  Censured  or  the  Conscious  Lovers  Examined;  In  a  Dia- 
logue between  Sir  Dicky  Marplot  and  Jack  Freeman.  In  which  Mr. 
Dennis  is  Introduced  by  Way  of  Postscript;  with  some  observations  on 
his  late  Remarks. 

86  The  Theatre,  II,   370. 

87 "  I  thank  my  God  I  am  altogether  a  stranger  to  thy  person."  Original 
Letters,  p.  298. 


85 

have  already  noticed  Swift's  thrust  at  the  critic  in  the  Tale  of  a 
Tub,  where  he  characterized  Dennis  as  the  son  of  Momus  and 
Hybris.  Our  author  took  no  notice  of  this  hit;  nor  did  he 
make  any  answer  when,  two  years  later,  Swift  published  the 
story  of  the  French  privateer68  in  his  Thoughts  on  Various 
Subjects.  He  did,  however,  reply  promptly  and  furiously 
when  the  writer  of  the  Examiner  for  January  10,  1711/12, 
assigned  to  him  the  authorship  of  a  tract  in  defense  of  Marl- 
borough,69  stating  that  "  from  the  style  of  the  pamphlet,  and 
the  manifest  thefts  from  his  own  unlucky  plays,  an  old  sour 
critic  must  be  the  author,  though  the  tract  was  fairly  printed 
in  large  characters,  and  avoided  in  outward  circumstances  all 
appearance  of  Grub  Street." 

Dennis  retorted70  by  calling  Swift  "  a  Joker  in  a  long  party 
colored  Coat,"  "an  arrant  Fool,"  and  an  "ecclesiastical  Jack 
Pudding,"  who  had  denied  the  very  being  of  God.  The 
language  was  coarse  and  brutal ;  but  Dennis  was  only  replying 
to  such  phrases  as  "the  most  insipid  and  contemptible  of  all 
human  Creatures,"  delivered  by  his  unprovoked  assailant.  In 
all  probability  Swift  did  not  write  that  particular  number  of 
the  Examiner,  though  he  was  doubtlessly  willing  to  take  the 
responsibility.  In  the  latter  part  of  April,  1714,  he  published 
his  John  Dennis  the  Sheltering  Poet's  Invitation  to  Sir  Richard 
Steele,  the  Secluded  Party  Writer,  to  come  and  live  with  him 
in  the  Mint,  which,  though  directed  primarily  against  Steele, 
did  not  neglect  bestowing  a  generous  portion  of  ridicule  upon 
the  critic.  With  this  Invitation  the  relations  between  Dennis 
and  Swift  practically  closed;  for  while  there  were  later  a  few 
chance  shots,71  the  London  recluse  and  the  Irish  dean  never 
again  came  into  conflict. 

68  Supra. 

69  The  Management  of  the  War.    Francis  Hare  is  regarded  as  the  author 
of  this  tract,  but  Maynwaring  probably  had  a  share  in  it. 

70  Original  Letters,  p.   296. 

71 "  Who  have  been  the  Prose- Authors  that  have  been  most  in  Vogue? 
Why  Abel  [Roper]  and  the  Examiner,  par  nobile  fratrum :  whose  Rhet- 
orick  has  been  Billingsgate,  and  whose  Reasons  have  been  Impudence." 
Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer,  p.  3.  See  also  Pope's  Works,  VIII,  309, 
and  Scott's  Swift,  IX,  375.  It  is  possible  that  Swift  may  have  been  re- 
sponsible for  some  of  the  hits  at  Dennis  in  Peri  Bathous. 


86 

Dennis's  brief  and  somewhat  casual  conflicts  with  Swift  sink 
into  insignificance  when  compared  with  the  long  and  bitter 
strife  he  waged  with  Pope — a  series  of  quarrels  that  cover  a 
quarter  of  a  century  and  stand  to  most  readers  as  the  critic's 
principal,  if  not  his  sole,  claim  to  remembrance.  It  was  prob- 
ably in  the  latter  years  of  the  first  decade  of  the  eighteenth 
century  that  Pope,  then  a  youth,  in  seeking  the  acquaintance  of 
the  men  of  letters  of  the  town,  prevailed  upon  his  much  older 
friend  Henry  Cromwell  to  introduce  him  to  Dennis,  who  re- 
ceived him  civilly  but  apparently  without  any  special  interest. 
The  critic's  own  account  of  their  meeting  and  of  Pope's  sub- 
sequent attack  reads  as  follows  :72 

"  At  his  first  coming  to  town  he  was  very  importunate  with  the  late 
Mr.  Henry  Cromwell  to  introduce  him  to  me.  The  Recommendation  of 
Mr.  Cromwell  induced  me  to  be  about  thrice  in  his  Company,  after  which 
I  went  into  the  Country  and  never  saw  or  thought  of  him,  till  I  found 
myself  attacked  by  him  in  the  very  superficial  Essay  on  Criticism." 

In  his  Reflections  upon  the  Essay  on  Criticism  Dennis  gives 
us  a  hint  as  to  the  cause  of  his  differences  with  Pope,73  when 
he  calls  that  author  "an  eternal  writer  of  Amorous  Pastoral 
Madrigals,"  referring  probably  to  his  adverse  opinion  of  Pope's 
artificial  pastorals.  This  hint  is  strengthened  by  the  evidence 
of  a  passage  from  Pope's  Prologue  to  the  Satires:741 

"  Soft  were  my  Numbers,  who  could  take  offense, 
While  pure  description  held  the  place  of  sense : 
Like  gentle  Fanny's  was  my  flow'ry  theme, 
A  painted  mistress  or  a  purling  stream. 
Yet  then  did  Dennis  rave  with  furious  fret: 
I    never    answered, — I    was    not    in    debt." 

Pope  was  prompt  to  resent  Dennis's  disapproval  of  his  poems 
and  was  not  over  nice  in  the  means  he  employed  against  his 
critic.  In  his  physical  and  temperamental  peculiarities  Dennis 
offered  a  chance  for  satire  which  Pope  quickly  improved  in  his 

72  This  passage,  as  well  as  a  large  part  of  the  subsequent  narration  of 
the  relations  of  Dennis  and  Pope,  is  based  upon  the  critic's  story  of  his 
dealings  with  his  arch  enemy  as  given  in  his  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's 
Dunciad,  1729,  pp.  39  ff. 

"See  Pope's  Works,  IV,  74,  and  VIII,  11-12. 

"Ibid.,  II,  12. 


87 

Essay  on  Criticism.  Not  only  did  he  include  such  open 
thrusts  as  "  Appius  "  reddening  and  the  hit  at  the  tremendous 
stare,  but  he  also  directed  against  Dennis  some  more  covert 
blows.75 

It  is  little  wonder  then  that  with  such  provocation  Dennis 
immediately  wrote  some  Reflections  upon  the  Essay76  and  pub- 
lished them  as  soon  as  he  could.  Nor  was  his  resentment 
lessened  by  his  belief  that  Pope  had  made  this  "  clandestine  " 
attack  on  his  person  as  a  part  of  a  scheme  "to  destroy  the 
reputation  of  a  man  who  had  published  certain  pieces  of 
criticism,  and  to  set  up  his  own."  Moreover,  Dennis  felt  an 
added  resentment  that  the  onslaught  should  have  been  made 
at  a  time  "  when  all  the  world  knew  "  that  he  "  was  suffering 
great  misfortunes."  And,  as  the  attack  had  been  made  on  his 
person,  he  retorted  thus  in  turn  to  the  "young  squab,"  who 
was  a  "fine  fellow  to  make  personal  remarks  about  another." 
For  the  most  part,  however,  Dennis  confined  himself  to  a 
consideration  of  the  Essay,  devoting  no  small  part  of  his  time 
to  criticizing  single  lines  or  couplets.  Though  some  of  his 
remarks  are  mere  cavils,  twisting  the  text  from  its  obvious 
meaning,  he  shrewdly  recognized  that  Pope's  power  of  ex- 
pression frequently  surpassed  his  power  of  thought,  and  he  was 
quick  to  perceive  the  equivocal  manner  in  which  such  words 
as  "  nature  "  and  "  wit "  had  been  used,  and  to  take  the  author 
to  task.  Near  the  close  of  the  Remarks  Dennis  stated  that 
he  had  lately  drawn  a  graphic  picture  of  Pope,  but  that  he 
believed  that  he  should  "  keep  the  Dutch  piece  from  ever  seeing 
the  light." 

75  Pope  went  to  the  trouble  of  pointing  out  at  least  one  such  allusion. 
In  his  Strange  Narrative  of  Dr.  N orris  he  had  this  sentence :  "  That  the 
said  Mr.  John  Dennis  on  the  27th  of  March,  1712,  finding  on  the  said  Mr. 
Lintot's  counter  a  book  called  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  just  then  published, 
he  read  a  page  or  two  of  it  with  much  frowning,  till  he  came  to  these  two 
lines : 

Some  have  at  first  for  wits,  then  poets  past, 

Turned   critics  next,   and  prov'd  plain  fools  at  last. 

He  flung  the  book  down  iu  a  terrible  fury,  and  cried  out,  By  God  he 
means  me." 

76  Remarks  upon  the  Dunciad,  p.  39,  on  which  the  statements  immediately 
following  are  also  based. 


88 

Despite  his  protest  to  the  contrary,77  Pope  was  so  deeply  cut 
that  he  really  never  forgave  the  writer ;  but  he  was  wise  enough 
to  profit  by  some  of  Dennis's  hints,  and  in  the  light  of  this 
criticism  to  revise  several  lines.78  He  made  no  direct  reply 
to  Dennis,  but  with  that  deliberate  malice  which  so  often  char- 
acterized him,  went  to  work  to  secure  his  revenge.  About  this 
time  began  his  friendship  with  the  good  natured  and  inof- 
fensive Gay,  whom  he  soon  came  to  use  for  righting  his  battles. 
In  May,  1712,  four  months  after  the  publication  of  the  Re- 
flections upon  the  Essay  on  Criticism  appeared  Gay's  Mohocks, 
preceded  by  an  insulting  dedication  to  Dennis  of  this  play 
which  was  both  "Horrid  and  Tremendous."  Our  belief  that 
the  dedication  was  directed  in  retalliation  for  Pope  is  strength- 
ened by  the  following  allusion  it  contains  to  the  favorable 

77  "  Did  you  never  mind  what  your  angry  critics  published  against  you  ? 
Never  much :  only  one  or  two  things  at  first. — When  I  heard  for  the  first 
time  that  Dennis  had  written  against  me,  it  gave  me  some  pain;  but  it 
was  quite  over  when  I  came  to  look  in  his  book,  and  found  him  in  such* 
a    passion."     Spence,    Anecdotes,    Observations,    and    Characters   of   Books 
and  Men,  London,   1820,  p.  275. 

78  The  following  lines  criticized  by  Dennis  were  afterwards   altered  by 
Pope.     Of   course   it   does   not   necessarily    follow    in   each    instance   that 
Dennis's    criticism   was   the    sole,    or   even   the   main,    reason    for    Pope's 
making   the   change. 

I>  75>  "  That  art  is  best  that  most  resembles  her, 

Which  still  presides  but  never  does  appear," 
was  changed  to 

"  Art  from  that  fund  each  just  supply  provides, 

Works  without  show,  and  without  pomp  presides." 
I,  80,  "  There  are  whom  Heav'n  hath  bless'd  with  store  of  Wit, 

Yet  want  as  much  again  to  manage  it." 
changed  to 

"  Some  to  whom  Heav'n  in  Wit  has  been  profuse, 

Want  as  much   more   to  turn  it  to  its  use." 
I,  82,  "  For  Wit  and  Judgment  ever  are  at  strife," 
"ever"    changed    to    "often." 

I,  179,  "Those   are  best   Stratagems   which    Errors    seem," 

"  are  best  '   to   "  oft  are." 

II,  503,  "The  more  his  Trouble  [Wit]   as  the  more  admir'd, 

When    wanted    scorn'd,    and    envied   when    acquir'd." 
became 

"  Then   more   our   Trouble   still   when   most   admir'd, 
And  still  the  more  we  give,  the  more  requir'd." 


89 

mention  of  the  Essay  on  Criticism  which  had  appeared  in  the 
253d  Spectator:  "  As  we  look  upon  you  to  have  a  Monopoly  of 
English  Criticism  in  your  Head,  we  hope  that  you  will  shortly 
chastise  the  Insolence  of  the  Spectator,  who  has  lately  had  the 
Audacity  to  shew  that  there  are  more  Beauties  than  Faults  in 
a  Modern  Writer."  Beyond  his  friendship  for  Pope,  no  other 
reason  has  been  assigned  for  this  hit  of  Gay's  at  Dennis,  who, 
so  far  as  we  know,  never  mentioned  or  alluded  to  the  author  of 
the  Mohocks  in  any  of  his  writings.  Two  years  later  Gay 
returned  to  his  attack  upon  Dennis  in  his  sarcastic  remarks 
about  critics  and  poetic  justice  delivered  in  the  preface  to 
his  What-d'-ye-C all-It;  and  he  afterwards  collaborated  with 
Pope  and  Arbuthnot  in  satirizing  Dennis  in  the  deservedly  un- 
successful Three  Hours  After  Marriage,  which  we  shall  notice 
later. 

In  the  meantime  Pope  was  nursing  his  wrath  and  waiting  for 
other  opportunities  to  take  vengeance  upon  Dennis,  one  of 
which  came  with  his  pretended  defense  of  Addison  in  the  Nor-  * 
rative  of  .  .  .  the  Strange  Frenzy  of  Mr.  John  Dennis,  dated 
July  30,  1714.  As  has  already  been  indicated,  this  coarse  and 
cowardly  attack  made  no  reply  to  the  charges  brought  against 
Addison's  play,  and  very  insultingly  ridiculed  the  old  critic.  On 
his  part  Dennis  continued  to  guard  jealously  the  memory  of 
Dryden  as  opposed  to  the  growing  fame  of  this  young  bard 
of  the  "monotonous  Couplets";  and  in  1715,  when  he  heard 
from  Tonson  that  Pope  and  his  friends  had  set  on  foot  a  con- 
spiracy against  the  reputation  of  Dryden,  he  wrote  to  the  book- 
seller a  strong  letter  against  "these  Authors  of  great  Medio- 
crity, whose  Absurdities,"  he  said,  he  had  "  exposed  openly  and 
fairly,  and  upon  just  and  personal  Provocations." 

Pope  was  now  busy  with  his  translation  of  Homer,  of  which 
the  first  four  books  appeared  in  1715,  and  nothing  occurred  to 
break  the  armed  neutrality  till  May,  1716,  when  there  appeared 
a  furious  tract,  a  True  Character  of  Mr.  Pope,  very  probably 
by  Dennis.  This  diatribe  was  evoked  by  an  anonymous  Imita- 
tion of  Horace  which  had  probably  been  directed  against  the 
critic.  The  offending  poem,  however,  has  never  been  dis- 
covered.79 Though  the  authorship  of  the  True  Character  has 

79  See  Pope's  Works,  VIII,  n. 


90 

never  been  quite  definitely  settled,  it  was  very  probably  the 
work  of  Dennis.80  Possibly  this  is  the  Dutch  portrait  of  which 
he  speaks  in  the  Reflections  upon  the  Essay  on  Criticism*1  as 
prepared  to  be  held  in  reserve.  Curll  once  stated  that  Gildon 
wrote  the  True  Character,  but  he  afterwards  transferred  the 
honor  to  Dennis.82  Pope  once  professed  to  consider  the  tract 
the  joint  work  of  Gildon  and  Dennis,83  but  our  author  de- 

80  Mr.  Roberts,  in  the  Bookworm,  IV,  375,  states  his  conviction  that  the 
"  internal    evidence   does   not   warrant   the    assumption   that    Dennis   could 
stoop  so  low."     To  this  it  may  be  replied  that  some  of  the  critic's  later 
attacks   are   about   as   abusive  as   is   the   True   Character.     Moreover,   the 
sentiments   expressed  near  the   close  of   the  pamphlet  on  the  possibilities 
of   translating   Homer   into    a   modern    tongue   are    almost   precisely   those 
voiced   in   Dennis's  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer   (see   especially   pp. 
10-11).     The   writer   of  the   True   Character  promised   to   make   some   ob- 
servations   on    Pope's    translation,    a    task    which    Dennis    afterwards    ac- 
complished.    Again,   the   likes   and  prejudices   of  the   author  of  this  tract 
are  those  of  the  critic;  there  is  a  quotation  from.  Dennis's  almost  inevit- 
able Hudibras  and  from  his  almost  equally  favorite  Horace ;   reference  is 
made  to  Shadwell's  Squire  of  Alsatia,  which  was  a  favorite  play  with  our 
author;  Blackmore  and  his  works  are  highly  praised  by  this  writer,  just  at 
the  time  when  the  strongest  friendship  had  grown  up  between  the  physi- 
cian and  Dennis ;  here,  as  in  the  Reflection  upon  the  Essay  on  Criticism, 
Pope  is  admitted  to  possess  some  skill  as  a  versifier ;  he  is  also  compared 
with  Boileau,  a  contrast  which  Dennis  afterwards  developed  at  length  in  his 
Remarks  upon  the  Dunciad;  the  writer  accuses  Pope  of  being  an  imitator 
in  all  his  productions — of  Vergil  in  the  Bucolics,  of  Boileau  in  the  Rape 
of  the  Lock,  of  Denham  in  Windsor  Forest,  of  Dryden  in  the  Ode  on  St. 
Cecilia's  Day,  and  of   Chaucer  in   the   Temple  of  Fame,  strictures  which 
Dennis  repeated  in  practically  all  his  attacks  upon  Pope  (see,  for  example, 
the  Daily  Journal,  May  n,   1728);   the  style  of  the  pamphlet  is  marked 
by  a  notable  use  of  contrast,  a  favorite  device  with  the  critic ;   some  of 
the  phrases  employed,   such  as  "  fool  and  knave,"   always  in  that  order, 
and  "  assertor  of  liberty  "  have  a  familiar  ring  to  one  who  has  read  much 
of    Dennis ;    and,    still    more    important,    this    pamphlet    contains    the   first 
recorded    hint    as    to    the    authorship    of    Pope's    Strange    Frenzy — "Who 
wrote  a  prolog  in  praise  of  Cato,  and  teas'd  Lintot  to  publish  Remarks 
on  it  ?  "    To  this  we  may  add  that  "  in  the  Testimonies  of  Authors,  prefixed 
to  the  Dunciad   {.e.g.,  Pope's  Works,  IV,   74],  and  in  the  Appendix,   and 
throughout   the   Notes,    Dennis   is   uniformly   quoted   and   attacked   as  the 
author"    (Notes  and   Queries,   ist   Series,  Vol.   IV,   94). 

81  Supra. 

M  Bookworm,  IV,   357. 
"Works,   IV,   72. 


91 

clared  that  they  had  never  written  a  single  line  together.8* 
The  True  Character  itself  reflects  but  little  credit  upon  its 
author  with  its  abuse  of  Pope  as  shaped  like  a  monkey  and 
other  such  genial  personalities.  It  is,  however,  often  acute, 
especially  in  puncturing  Pope's  mock  humility  and  in  exposing 
his  vanity,  all  with  a  brutal  frankness  that  probably  cut  him 
the  deeper  because  he  recognized  the  truth  in  the  analysis. 

Pope  renewed  the  attack,  again  behind  the  shield  of  Gay,  \ 
by  producing  in  connection  with  that  writer  and  Arbuthnot  the 
farce  Three  Hours  After  Marriage,  which  was  staged  in  1717, 
nominally  as  the  work  of  Gay.  Several  persons  were  here 
satirized,  including  Lady  Winchilsea  as  Clinkett  the  poetess,  ' 
Gibber  as  Plotwell,  and  Dennis  as  Sir  Tremendous  Longinus 
the  Critic.  There  is  little  remarkable  about  the  play  except  its 
tameness  and  meagerness.  In  reading  such  criticisms  as  the 
Comparison  Between  the  Two  Stages,  one  laughs  at  the  keen- 
ness and  truth  of  some  of  the  thrusts  at  Dennis ;  but  the  satire 
of  the  Three  Hours,  representing  the  critic  as  all  praise  for  the 
ancients  and  blame  for  the  moderns,  and  as  strict  for  the  rules, 
fails  to  hit  home.  The  play  met  with  a  storm  of  hostile  criti- 
cism and  was  soon  withdrawn,  much  to  the  mortification  of 
Pope. 

Early  in  the  same  month,  January,  1717,  which  witnessed 
the  failure  of  the  Three  Hours,  Theobald  printed  in  the  thirty- 
third  number  of  the  Censor,  which  he  was  then  publishing, 
an  attack  on  Dennis  as  "a  sour,  ill-natured  Critick."  He 
ended  the  article  with  a  eulogy  of  Pope's  translation  of  the 
first  eight  books  of  the  Iliad.  Theobald,  who  was  sometimes 
pressed  for  copy,  may  have  heard  Dennis  in  one  of  the  coffee 
houses  discussing  the  new  translation  and  have  seized  upon  this 
opportunity  to  berate  the  critic  and  to  praise  Pope.  At  least 
this  seems  the  most  plausible  explanation,  for  Dennis  had  given 
no  known  cause  for  this  attack  on  him  as  the  "  modern  Furius," 
who  was  filled  with  ill  nature  and  roughly  assaulted  successful 
merit. 

In  closing  his  paper  Theobald  had  prophesied  that  he  should 
have  "  Critic  Furius "  upon  his  back,  nor  was  he  mistaken ; 

84  Infra,  p.  95  n. 


92 

for  in  the  next  month  when  Dennis  published  his  Remarks 
J  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Translation  of  Homer,85  he  paid  his  respects 
to  the  "  Censor "  as  a  "  notorious  Idiot,  one  Hight  Whacum, 
who  from  an  under-spur  Leather  of  the  Law,  is  become  an 
understrapper  to  the  play-house."  Dennis,  however,  bestowed 
but  a  passing  notice  on  Theobald,  choosing  rather  to  take  ven- 
geance upon  Pope.86  Naturally  a  piece  of  criticism  written  for 
revenge  cannot  be  considered  work  of  a  very  high  order;  but 
mixed  with  the  petty  cavils  at  Pope's  choice  of  words  are  many 
just  censures  of  a  translation  that  is  often  inexact  and  inap- 
propriate. The  modern  student  who  peruses  Dennis's  criticism 
carefully  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  penetration  and 
Tightness  of  his  judgments  of  the  large  features  of  the  transla- 
tion. Such,  for  example  are  the  remarks  upon  the  possibility 
of  translating  Homer  into  English  verse,  which  anticipate  much 
of  what  Matthew  Arnold  had  to  say  on  that  subject,  and 
a  condemnation  of  the  monotony  of  the  heroic  couplet  which 
resembles  Lowell's  comment  on  Pope's  use  of  that  form  of 
verse.  "The  HOMER  which  Lintot  prints,"  Dennis  asserted, 
"  does  not  talk  like  Homer,  but  like  Pope ; "  and  he  then  went 
on  to  compare  the  simplicity  of  the  original  with  the  artificiality 
of  the  translation.  Of  far  less  value  than  these  Remarks  upon 
Homer  are  those  upon  Windsor  Forest  and  the  Temple  of 
Fame  included  in  the  same  little  volume.  Dennis  described 
Windsor  Forest  as  a  wretched  rhapsody,  unworthy  the  observa- 
tions of  a  man  of  sense;  and  he  then  proceeded  to  devote 
several  pages  to  a  discussion  of  it.  Much  of  his  space  is  taken 
up  with  a  comparison  of  this  poem  with  Denham's  Cooper's 
Hill.  Of  the  observations  upon  the  Temple  of  Fame  it  may 
suffice  to  note  that  Dennis  here  enters  into  a  pedantic  dis- 
cussion of  the  nature  of  dreams,  and  that,  as  Dr.  Johnson  has 

85  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Translation  of  Homer.  With  Two  Letters 
concerning  Windsor  Forest  and  the  Temple  of  Fame.  London,  1717.  Ad- 
vertised in  the  Daily  Courant,  for  Feb.  gth. 

88 "  I  afterwards  wrote  and  published  some  Remarks  upon  Part  of  his 
Translation  of  Homer,  upon  his  Windsor  Forest  and  upon  his  infamous 
Temple  of  Fame.  When  I  had  done  this,  I  thought  that  I  had  reason  to 
be  satisfied  with  the  Revenge  I  had  taken."  Remarks  upon  the  Dunciad, 
P-  39- 


93 

observed  in  his  comments  upon  Pope,  the  best  remark  in  the 
criticism  is  that  "Trees  starting  from  their  roots,  and  moun- 
tains rolling  into  a  wall,  and  a  town  rising  like  an  exhalation, 
are  things  not  to  be  shown  in  sculpture." 

Despite  his  fabricated  letter  to  Congreve,  declaring  himself 
indifferent  to  any  abuse  from  Dennis,87  Pope  was  deeply  cut 
by  the  Remarks,  so,  as  an  offset  to  them  and  to  the  recent 
failure  of  the  Three  Hours,  he  welcomed,  if  he  did  not  invite, 
the  assistance  of  his  friend  Parnell,  who  published  during  the 
following  May  his  Homer's  Battle  of  the  Frogs  and  Mice. 
With  the  Remarks  of  Zoilus.  To  which  is  prefixed,  The  Life 
of  the  Said  Zoilus.  This  satire  was  directed  against  Dennis 
and,  rather  retributively  it  would  seem  after  the  number  of  the 
Censor  just  discussed,  against  Theobald.  Why  the  latter 
should  have  been  chosen  for  ridicule  is  not  quite  clear,  unless 
it  was  for  his  disapproval  of  the  Three  Hours  and  as  a  good 
representative  of  poor,  unfortunate  authors.  Pope  wrote  to 
Parnell  at  this  time,88  "  Gay's  play  has  cost  much  time  and  long 
suffering  to  stem  the  tide  of  malice  and  party  that  certain 
authors  have  raised  against  it.  The  best  revenge  upon  such 
fellows  is  now  in  my  hands,  I  mean  your  Zoilus,  which  really 
transcends  the  expectation  I  had  conceived  of  it."  Parnell's 
criticism,  while  more  extended  and  exhaustive  than  most  of 
those  made  against  Dennis,  followed  closely  along  the  old  lines 
of  accusations  of  envy  and  snarling,  of  a  pedantic  regard  for 

87 "  My  spleen  was  not  occasioned,  however,  by  anything  an  abusive 
angry  critic  could  write  of  me.  ('  Dennis,  who  writ  an  abusive  pamphlet 
that  year,  entitled  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer.')"  "  I  take  very  kindly 
your  heroic  manner  of  congratulation  upon  this  scandal:  for  I  think  noth- 
ing more  honourable  than  to  be  involved  in  the  same  fate  with  all  the 
great  and  good  that  ever  lived,  that  is,  to  be  envied  and  censured  by  bad 
writers."  Pope  to  Congreve,  January  16,  1714-15. 

The  editors  of  Pope's  Works,  VI,  411,  go  on  to  comment  thus:  "Un- 
fortunately for  Pope's  consistency,  he  states  that  he  refers  in  a  letter 
dated  January,  1715,  to  Dennis's  pamphlet  on  his  Homer,  when  the  next 
letter  but  one,  which  is  dated  April,  says  that  the  first  part  of  the  trans- 
lation was  not  yet  published.  It  did  not,  in  fact,  appear  till  June,  and 
Dennis's  Remarks  did  not  follow  till  February,  1717.  Pope  omitted  the 
note  in  the  quarto,  and  as  he  was  unable  to  particularize  any  abuse  of 
himself  which  came  out  in  January,  1715,  he  left  the  allusion  unexplained." 

88  Works,  VIII,  464. 


94 

verbal  criticism,  and  of  a  proneness  to  see  faults  and  to  dis- 
regard beauties.  Pope  must  have  valued  the  Zoilus  highly, 
for  after  Parnell's  death  he  reprinted  it,  "corrected  by  Mr. 
Pope,"  after  the  fifth  book  of  his  translation  of  the  Odyssey. 

After  the  appearance  of  the  Zoilus  in  May,  1717,  came  an 
armistice  in  this  long  war  between  Pope  and  Dennis,  of  which 
the  latter  has  given  the  following  account  :89 

"  As  these  several  Remarks  [upon  Homer,  Windsor  Forest,  and  the 
Temple  of  Fame]  had  made  great  Impressions  upon  the  Minds  of  Per- 
sons of  undoubted  Sense,  and  so  esteem'd  by  the  Publick,  P.  began  to  re- 
pent the  Affront  he  had  offer'd  me,  and  the  Injury  he  had  attempted  to  do 
me:  And  to  give  some  Proofs  of  his  Repentance,  he  subscrib'd  to  the  Two 
Volumes  of  Select  Works,  almost  in  spite  of  my  Friend  Mr.  Henry  Crom- 
well, in  whose  hands  he  found  the  Proposals.  He  likewise  subscrib'd 
afterwards  to  the  two  Volumes  of  Letters,  which  engaged  me  to  strike  out 
several  very  just  and  severe  Reflections  against  him."  •• 

The  two  authors  exchanged  civil  letters,  each  expressing  regret 
for  the  past ;  and  Dennis  came  to  feel  that,  while  he  could  never 
be  Pope's  friend,  he  was  willing  to  cease  to  be  his  enemy.  This 
neutrality  was  maintained  for  about  ten  years;  and  even  in 

1727  Pope's  name  appeared  upon  the  small  list  of  subscribers 
to  Dennis's  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  at  the  time  he  was  prepar- 
ing with  Arbuthnot  the  Peri  Bathous,  Martin  Scriblerus,  his 
treatise  on  the  art  of  sinking  in  poetry,  which  appeared  in 

1728  as  the  third  volume  of  Pope  and  Swift's  Miscellanies. 
In  this  preliminary  study  to  the  Dunciad  Dennis  received  a 

89  Remarks  upon  the  Dunciad,  p.  39. 

90  The   following  passages   were   omitted  by   Dennis   from   the   letter  to 
Tonson  in  1715  regarding  the  conspiracy  against  the  reputation  of  Dryden: 
"  But  when  I  heard  that  this  attempt  to  lessen  Mr.  Dryden's  was  done 
in  favour  of  little  Pope,  that  diminutive  of  Parnassus  and  of  humanity,  .  .  . 
and  the  little  Mr.  Pope  to  the  illustrious  Mr.  Dryden;  .  .  .  But  Pope  is  the 
very  reverse  of  all  this ;  he  scarce  ever  once  thought  solidly,  but  is  an 
empty    eternal   babbler;    and    his    thoughts    are    almost    always    false    and 
trifling,   his    expression   is    too    often    obscure,    ambiguous    and    uncleanly. 
He  has  indeed  a  smooth  Verse  and  rhyming  Jingle,  but  he  has  no  power 
or  variety  of  Harmony ;  but  always  the  same  dull  cadence,  and  a  continual 
bag-pipe    drone.     Mr.    Dryden's    Expression    was    always    worthy    of    his 
Thoughts,  but  Pope  never  speaks  or  thinks  at  all;  or  what  is  all  one,  his 
Language  is  frequently  as  barbarous  as  his  Thoughts  are  false."     Dennis 
then  went  on,  in  a  passage  which  he  also  omitted  later  to  show  that  Pope's 
fame  was  due  to  popular  error. 


95 

goodly  share  of  attention  along  with  most  of  the  poets  and 
poetasters  of  his  time,  being  classed  with  Gildon  and  Oldmixon 
as  the  representatives  of  the  porpoise  poets.91  The  last  chapter 
of  this  book  consists  of  a  burlesque  project  of  twelve  rules  for 
the  advancement  of  the  stage,  purporting  to  be  the  digest  of  a 
scheme  made  public  in  1720  by  Dennis  and  Gildon  for  encour-^ 
aging  poor  authors  and  for  fostering  a  right  dramatic  taste.92 
So  far  as  abuse  is  concerned,  there  is  little  to  choose  between 
Pope's  treatment  of  Dennis  in  the  work  just  mentioned  and 
that  in  the  Dunciad,  which  was  published  a  month  later,  May, 
1728.  Though  he  fared  better  than  did  some  of  Pope's  other 
victims,  Dennis  was  ridiculed  in  half  a  dozen  passages,  rang- 
ing in  length  and  severity  from  the  "thunder  rumbling  in  a 
mustard  bowl,"  to  the  eight  lines  descriptive  of  his  participation 
in  the  diving  contest,  "In  naked  Majesty  great  Dennis  stands, 
etc/'93 

The  story  of  the  numerous  replies  evoked  by  the  Dunciad  is 
too  well  known  to  require  any  extended  repetition.  Dennis  at 
once  published  his  Remarks  on  the  Rape  of  the  Lock?* 
which  he  had  written  a  dozen  years  before,  but  which  he  had 
held  back  "In  Terr  or  em!3  In  many  ways  this  is  one  of  the 

91 "  The  porpoises  are  unwieldy  and  big ;  they  put  all  their  members  into 
a  great  turmoil  and  tempest,  but  whenever  they  appear  in  plain  sight 
(which  is  seldom)  they  are  only  shapeless  and  ugly  monsters."  Chapter 
VI. 

82  Mr.  Aitken  states  in  his  Life  of  Richard  Steele,  II,  234,  that  A  New 
Project  for  the  Regulation  of  the  Stage  was  advertised  on  February  5, 
1713,  and  that  it  reached  a  second  edition,  but  that  he  never  had  seen  the 
book.  Beyond  this  statement  and  the  allusion  in  Pope,  just  mentioned 
above,  the  present  writer  has  been  able  to  find  little.  It  is  also  to  be 
noted  that  in  his  Remarks  upon  the  Dunciad,  p.  50,  Dennis  declares  that  he 
never  wrote  any  such  book  with  Gildon :  "  As  Mr.  P.  has  been  pleas'd  in 
several  Places  of  his  wonderful  Rhapsody  [the  Dunciad'}  to  declare  that 
I  wrote  such  and  such  things  in  Concert  with  Mr.  Gildon  I  solemnly  de- 
clare upon  the  Word  and  Honour  of  a  Gentleman,  that  I  never  so  much 
as  wrote  one  Line  that  was  afterwards  printed  in  concert  with  any  one  Man 
whatsoever." 

93 11.  283  ff.     Pope  afterwards  transferred  these  lines  to   Oldmixon. 

**  Remarks  on  Mr.  Pope's  Rape  of  the  Lock.  In  Several  Letters  to  a 
Friend.  With  a  Preface.  Occasion 'd  by  the  late  Treatise  on  the  Profound 
and  the  Dunciad.  London,  1728. 


96 

least  happy  of  his  efforts  in  criticism ;  for  while  the  personali- 
ties included  are  not  so  stinging  as  might  be  expected  from  one 
with  his  provocation,  and  while  some  of  his  remarks,  as  Dr. 
Johnson  has  observed,  are  not  easy  to  answer,  the  critic's  mind 
was  far  too  literal,  and  far  too  unsympathetic,  to  judge  the 
poem  aright.  At  this  juncture  he  also  published  in  the  Daily 
Journal  for  the  eleventh  of  May,  1728,  an  anonymous  "Letter 
against  Mr.  Pope  at  Large,"  wherein  he  repeated  his  accusa- 
tions against  that  poet  as  an  imitator  of  Chaucer,  Denham, 
Dryden,  and  Boileau,  characterized  his  style  as  mean  and  low, 
and  declared  that  as  a  writer  of  pastorals  he  fell  far  short  of 
Philips.95 

In  the  earlier  months  of  this  same  year  appeared  a  small 
pamphlet  Pope  Alexander's  Supremacy  and  Infallibility 
examirid;  and  the  Errors  of  Scriblerus  and  his  Man  William 
Detected.  With  the  Effigies  of  his  Highness  and  his  Prime 
Minister,  Curiously  Engraved  in  Copper,  London,  1729.  This 
tract  consists  of  two  anonymous  latters,  one  of  them  very 
moderate  and  judicial,  the  other  decidedly  abusive,  preceded  by 
an  engraving  representing  Pope  as  an  ape,  with  an  ass  below — 
his  prime  minister,  Will  Cleland.  This  pamphlet  has  been  ac- 
credited to  Dennis  and  George  Duckett,  though  apparently 
without  a  very  careful  investigation  of  its  authorship.  Pope, 
who  was  very  shrewd  in  guessing  the  origin  of  attacks  against 
himself,  wrote  to  Oxford,96 

"  I  see  a  book  with  a  curious  cut ;  called  Pope  Alexander's  Supremacy 
&c  4to.  In  it  are  three  or  four  things  so  false  and  scandalous  that  I  think 
I  know  the  authors,  and  they  are  of  a  rank  to  merit  detection.  .  .  ,. 
The  book  is  writ  by  Burnet  and  a  person  who  has  great  obligations  to  me, 
and  the  cut  is  done  by  Duckett." 

Pope  would  hardly  have  mentioned  Sir  Thos.  Burnet  and  failed 
to  do  the  same  by  Dennis,  had  he  believed  the  old  critic  guilty  of 

85  These  letters  were  afterwards  inserted  in  the  Compleat  Collection  of 
all  the  Verses,  Essays,  Letters,  and  Advertisements,  -which  have  been  oc- 
casion'd  by  the  Publication  of  the  Three  Volumes  of  Miscellanies  by  Pope 
and  Company.  This  collection  has  sometimes  been  attributed  to  Dennis, 
but  there  exists  practically  no  evidence  for  determining  who  was  its 
compiler. 

"Works,  VIII,   254. 


97 

participating  in  the  authorship.  Furthermore,  Dennis's  own 
testimony  in  his  Remarks  upon  the  Dunciad  weighs  heavily 
against  his  participation,  for  it  is  here  that  he  declares  that 
he  never  wrote  anything  in  conjunction  with  another  author. 
Moreover,  he  expressly  commends,  on  the  last  page  of  his 
tract,  "  the  ingenious  and  sagacious  Author  of  Pope  Alexan- 
der's Supremacy." 

The  second  edition  of  the  Dunciad  appeared  in  November, 
1729,  enlarged  by  the  prefatory  Prolegomena  of  Martin 
Scriblerus  and  the  Testimonies  of  Authors,  in  which,  along 
with  Pope's  other  enemies,  Dennis  came  in  for  a  full  share  of 
ridicule  and  abuse.  Here  Pope  reviewed  ironically  many  of 
the  critic's  utterances  against  him  of  the  past  fifteen  years  and 
showed  by  his  quotation  of  the  "young  squab"  that  this 
epithet,  applied  eighteen  years  before  in  the  Reflections  upon 
an  Essay  on  Criticism  still  rankled  in  him.  To  this  new  edition 
Dennis  hastened  to  reply  with  his  Remarks  upon  Several  ( 
Passages  in  the  Preliminaries  to  the  Dunciad,  both  in  the 
Quarto  and  in  the  duodecimo  edition,  and  upon  Several 
Passages  in  Pope's  Preface  to  his  Translation  of  Homer's 
Iliad.  In  both  of  which  is  shewn  the  Author's  want  of  Judg- 
ment. With  Original  Letters  from  Sir  Richard  Steele,  from 
the  late  Mr.  Gildon,  from  Mr.  Jacob,  from  Mr.  Pope  himself, 
which  shew  the  Falsehood  of  the  Latter,  His  Envy  and  his 
Malice.  By  Mr.  Dennis,  London,  1729.  This  long  title  gives 
a  very  fair  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  pamphlet,  which,  in  the 
changing  relations  of  authors,  was  addressed  to  Pope's 
"  Monarch  of  the  Dunces,"  Theobald.  To  us  the  chief  interest 
in  these  Remarks  lies  in  their  recital  of  Dennis's  relations  with 
Pope,  in  the  transcript  of  Steele's  letter  expressing  Addison's 
regret  at  the  publication  of  the  Narrative  of  Doctor  R.  Norris, 
and  in  Pope's  conciliatory  note  to  the  critic.  The  discussion 
of  the  Dunciad  itself  is  neither  long  nor  important. 

Pope  continued  the  conflict,  for  the  most  part  either  unaided 
or  with  slight  assistance.  In  his  essay  On  the  Poet  Laureate,91 
dated  November  19,  1729,  he  gravely  proposed  Dennis  as  a 

97  Pope's   authorship   of  this  essay  has  been  questioned,  but  it  is  in  all 
probability  his. 
8 


98 

candidate  for  that  honor  and  suggested  the  brassica  as  most 
fitting  for  the  crown.  The  humor  is  decidedly  grim,  for 
Eusden,  who  then  held  the  position,  did  not  die  till  the  follow- 
ing September.  Returning  to  this  subject  in  the  Grub  Street 
Journal  on  the  nineteenth  of  November,  1730,  Pope  pretended 
to  show  the  absurdity  of  Dennis's  candidacy  for  the  laureate- 
ship,  and  from  time  to  time  during  the  period  he  was  using 
this  paper  for  warring  on  the  enemies  of  letters,  he  there 
published  other  little  flings  at  the  old  critic.98 

As  the  conflict  wore  along,  there  appeared  various  miscel- 
lanies of  the  tracts  involved,  such  as  the  Compleat  Collection 
mentioned  above.  E.  Curll,  the  bookseller,  printed  a  Popiad, 
extracted  from  J.  Dennis,  Sir  Richard  Blackmore,  &;  and 
Savage  issued  in  1732  a  Collection  of  Pieces  in  Verse  and 
Prose  which  have  been  published  on  Occasion  of  the  Dunciad. 
The  last  pamphlet  of  any  length  in  the  quarrel,  so  far  as  Dennis 
is  concerned,  was  the  anonymous  Legal  Conviction  of  Mr. 
Alexander  Pope,  &c,Q9  which  appeared  in  1733,  the  year  before 

98  The  following  may  serve  as  illustrations :  "  Whereas  upon  occasion 
of  certain  Pieces  relating  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Dunciad,  some  of  them 
have  been  willing  to  suggest,  as  if  they  look'd  upon  them  as  an  abuse:  we 
can  no  less  than  own,  it  is  our  own  opinion,  that  to  call  these  gentlemen 
bad  authors,  is  no  sort  of  abuse,  but  a  great  truth.  We  cannot  alter  our 
opinion  without  some  reason;  but  we  promise  to  do  it  with  respect  to 
every  person  who  thinks  it  an  injury  to  be  represented  as  no  Wit  or 
Poet,  provided  he  secure  a  Certificate  of  his  being  really  such,  from  any 
three  of  his  companions  in  the  Dunciad,  or  from  Mr.  Dennis  singly,  who 
is  esteemed  equal  to  any  three  of  the  number."  Quoted  in  Ward's  Poet- 
ical Works  of  Alexander  Pope,  1897,  p.  360. 

In  this  Journal  Pope  also  published  the  "  foul  epigram  "  against  Dennis, 
wrongly  attributed  to  Savage  by  Dr.  Johnson  in  his  life  of  that  author: 
"  Should  Dennis  print  how  once  you  robbed  your  brother, 
Traduced  your   Monarch ;   or  debauched  your  mother ; 
Say,  what  revenge  on  Dennis  can  be  had, 
Too  dull  for  laughter,  for  reply  too  mad? 
On  one  so  poor  you  cannot  take  the  law, 
On  one  so  old  your  sword  you  cannot  draw, 
Uncag'd  then,  let  the  harmless  monster  rage, 
Secure  in  dullness,  madness,  want,  and  rage." 

For  a  discussion  of  the  authorship  of  these  lines  see  Notes  and  Queries, 
x'st  Series,  IX,  223,  and  7th  Series,  I,  385,  473. 

"The  Mirror,  or  Letters  Satyrical,  Panegyrical,  On  the  Present  Times, 


99 

our  author's  death.  The  writer  of  this  tract  hales  Pope  before 
a  somewhat  prejudiced  set  of  judges,  consisting  of  Dennis, 
Theobald,  and  Hill,  who  sentence  him  to  be  banished  from 
Mount  Parnassus. 

As  Dennis  came  to  distress,  poverty,  and  nearly  total  blind- 
ness, Pope  professed  to  take  compassion  on  him  and  wrote  to 
Aaron  Hill,100  "  I  do  faithfully  assure  you  that  I  was  never 
angry  at  any  criticism  made  on  my  poetry  by  whomsoever.  If 
I  could  do  Mr.  Dennis  any  humane  office,  I  would,  though  I  am 
sure  he  would  abuse  me  tomorrow."  Hill  evidently  regarded 
the  second  of  Pope's  statements  as  no  truer  than  the  first,  for 
two  days  later  he  replied  sarcastically  that  Pope  might  well 
show  his  morals  as  superior  as  he  represented  them  by  securing 
Dennis  a  great  subscription.101  Pope  answered  that  he  had 
solicited  aid  for  the  old  critic  from  Lord  Wilmington,  Lord 
Lansdowne,  and  others,102  and  added  that  Dennis  had  after- 
wards abused  him  in  print,  representing  that  his  subscription 
had  proceeded  from  fear  of  further  exposure.  Hill  expressed 
his  regret103  that  Pope's  good  office  should  have  brought  such 
an  affront;  and  the  matter  was  dropped  till  November,  1732, 
when  Pope  sent104  Hill  a  short  note  concerning  the  play  pro- 
posed for  Dennis's  benefit.  For  this  play  Pope  wrote  a  pro- 
logue and  was  generally  praised  for  his  benevolence.  We 
shall  return  to  the  discussion  of  this  performance ;  suffice  it  to 
state  that  this  apparent  service  was  tinged  with  malignity,  a 
damning  with  cynical  praise  all  too  evident  to  the  modern 
reader.  Even  after  the  old  writer's  death  Pope  had  to  take  his 

shewing,  The  Great  Improvement  of  Wit  .  .  .  To  Which  is  added  a  Legal 
Conviction  of  Mr.  Alexander  Pope  &c.  A  manuscript  note  on  the  title  page 
of  the  copy  in  the  British  Museum  ascribes  the  authorship  to  Giles  Jacob. 
The  volume  begins  with  a  letter  dated  the  loth  of  Dec.,  1729,  addressed  to 
Mr.  J — n  D — s,  On  Mr.  Pope  and  his  Poetry.  The  contents  of  this  letter 
are  negligible. 

100  January   26,    1730/31.     First   appeared   in   Hill's   Letters,    1753.     Also 
given  in   Pope's   Works,  X,    10. 

101  Pope's  Works,  X,   14. 
™Ibid.,  X,  1 8. 
™Ibid.,  X,  21. 
™Ibid.,  X,   1 8. 


100 

little  fling  in  the  Satires  at  "  surley  Dennis"105  and  to  de- 
clare106 that  he  could 

"  sleep  without  a  poem  in  [his]  head, 
Nor,   know    if    Dennis    be    alive    or    dead." 

Such  is  the  long  and  somewhat  painful  history  of  the  rela- 
tions of  Dennis  and  Pope,  in  which  it  seems  to  the  present 
writer  that  neither  of  the  men  was  entirely  blameless,  but  that 
the  record  of  the  former  is,  on  the  whole,  much  the  more  credit- 
able. If  his  retorts  were  harsh,  they  were  provoked,  and  they 
were  generally  delivered  in  the  open.  He  never  resorted  to  the 
subterfuges  practiced  by  his  opponent;  and  if  he  indulged  in 
coarse  personalities,  it  must  be  remembered  that  such  attacks 
were  still  in  fashion,  and  that  Pope  had  begun  such  a  warfare 
in  which  he  lay  especially  liable  to  attack.  That  Pope  should 
have  patched  up  a  truce  and  then  broken  it,  is  hardly  to  his 
credit;  while  his  oft-repeated  and  palpably  false  assertions  of 
his  indifference  to  Dennis's  attacks  provoke  an  occasional 
smile. 

Before  leaving  this  account  of  Dennis's  quarrels  with  his 
famous  contemporaries,  or  rather  members  of  the  next  genera- 
tion, we  may  note  that  he  seldom,  if  ever,  began  the  conflict, 
and  that  as  a  rule  he  was  quick  to  respond  to  any  friendly 
advances  from  his  opponent.  Once  engaged,  however,  he 
fought  bitterly;  he  fought  aggressively;  and  he  was  prone  to 
seize  the  weapon  closest  at  hand.  One  must  at  least  admire  his 
courage,  an  old  man — he  was  seventy-two  when  he  wrote  his 
Remarks  upon  the  Dunciad — almost  blind,  suffering  a  great 
deal  of  physical  pain,  and  oppressed  by  poverty.  Still  he  was 
always  ready  and  defiant,  and  quick  to  recognize  the  weak 
joints  in  his  enemy's  armor  and  to  pierce  them. 

During  the  years  of  his  bitterest  literary  quarrels  Dennis  had 
been  forced  to  rely  upon  his  pen  for  his  livelihood,  and  with 
his  advancing  years  and  failing  sight  had  been  obliged  to 
husband  his  efforts.  It  was  but  natural,  therefore,  that  he 
should  begin  to  collect  his  poems,  plays  and  criticisms  with  a 
view  to  republication.  Many  of  these  writings  were  scattered 

105  First  Epistle  of  the  Second  Book  of  Horace,  11.  386-387. 

106  Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot,  11.  269-270. 


101 

among  the  various  booksellers  and  were  incorrectly  printed; 
and  Dennis  feared  that,  lacking  the  support  of  a  cabal,  they 
might  be  lost.  In  October,  I7I7,107  therefore,  he  desired  John 
Darby,  the  bookseller,  to  collect  these  publications  for  him  and 
about  three  months  later  he  issued  a  prospectus  entitled,  Pro- 
posals for  Printing  by  Subscription  the  Select  Works  of  Mr. 
John  Dennis,  In  Two  Volumes,  Octavo.™*  These  books  were 
to  be  delivered  "on  the  first  of  May  [1718]  at  the  farthest;" 
and  subscriptions  were  to  be  taken  by  John  Darby  in  Bartholo- 
mew Close,  and  at  St.  James's,  the  Old  Man's,  Button's,  the 
Grecian,  and  Caraway's  Coffee  Houses.  On  the  last  page  of 
the  prospectus  appeared  the  following  notice: 

"  Whereas,  Proposals  were  given  out  some  time  since,  for  Writing  and 
Printing  A  Large  Criticism  upon  our  most  celebrated  English  poets  de-> 
ceas'd,  and  some  Money  was  receiv'd  'n  that  Subscription;  and  whereas 
Mr.  Dennis  was  utterly  incapacitated  for  prosecuting  this  Work,  by  a 
Disappointment  which  neither  he  nor  his  Friends  could  foresee;  He  hereby 
gives  notice,  that  what  Money  was  paid  on  that  Account,  shall  be  allow'd 
in  this,  if  the  Gentlemen  think  fit  to  subscribe ;  but  if  not,  it  shall  be 
paid  back  to  them,  on  their  Order,  by  John  Darby  in  Bartholomew-Close." 

It  seems  impossible  to  determine  whether  this  notice  refers 
to  the  subscriptions  which  Dennis  had  obtained  in  1703  for  his 
proposed  magnum  opus,  or  to  some  attempt  to  revive  that 

107  Lowndes's  Bibliographers'  Manual  makes  reference  to  a  collection  of 
Dennis's  Works,  1702,  as  in  the  library  of  Isaac  Reed,  the  Shakspere  col- 
lector   (1742-1807),    and    this    edition   is    also   mentioned    in    Morley    and 
Tyler's  History  of  English  Literature  and  elsewhere.     The  present  writer 
has  been  unable  to  find  any  allusion  to  such  a  collection  either  in  Dennis 
or  in  any  of  his  contemporaries,  nor  is  such  a  book  mentioned  in  the  cata- 
logues of  any  of  the  libraries  to  which  he  has  had  access. 

108  «  yol<  i      To  contain  tne  following  Poems  viz.,  The  Battle  of  Aghrin, 
The  Sea  Fight  at  LaHogue,  The  Death  of  Queen  Mary,  the  Death  of  King 
William,  The  Battle  of  Blenheim,  The  Battle  of  Ramillies,  The  Accession 
of  King  George  to  the  Crown,  and  The  Passion  of  Byblis.  .  .  .  Also  the 
following  TRACTS,  viz.,  Priestcraft  dangerous  to  Religion  and  Government, 
A  Proposal  for  putting  a  Speedy  End  to  the  War,  An  Essay  on  the  Ital- 
ian   Operas,    An    Essay   on    Publick    Spirit,    Priestcraft   distinguish'd    from 
Christianity. 

"  Vol.  II.  Familiar  Letters  which  pass'd  betwix  Mr.  Dryden,  Mr. 
Wycherley,  Mr.  Moyle,  Mr.  Congreve,  and  the  Author.  The  Grounds  of 
Criticism  in  Poetry.  And  Four  PJay s,  viz.,  Plot  and^  No  Plot,  Iphigenia, 
Liberty  Asserted,  Appius  and  Virginia.*5' 


102 

project.  In  favor  of  the  former  view  it  may  be  urged  that  at 
the  time  of  issuing  his  Proposal  in  1703  Dennis  was  especially 
hard  pressed  for  funds,  and  also  that  the  ambiguous  "some 
time  since"  of  the  notice  just  quoted  rather  favors  the  belief 
that,  like  many  another  poor  author  of  his  time,  Dennis  was  not 
prompt  in  returning  subscriptions  for  work  never  completed. 
Possibly  it  was  doubtful  for  a  time  whether  the  Works  them- 
selves would  ever  be  issued,  for  while  the  Prospectus  prom- 
ised them  by  the  first  of  May  [1718],  either  Dennis  or  the 
printer  was  slow  in  completing  his  task,  so  the  Works  were  not 
advertised  till  late  in  January  I7i8-i9.108a  What  success 
attended  this  venture  is  not  known;  but  judging  from  the 
scarcity  of  the  Works  today,  we  may  conclude  that  it  probably 
was  not  very  great. 

The  Original  Letters,  1721,  which  have  been  discussed,  also 
contain  a  great  deal  of  reprinted  matter,  including  the  Person 
of  Quality's  Answer  to  Mr.  Collier  and  the  Essay  On  the 
Genius  and  Writings  of  Shakespear.  This  same  year  appeared 
another  proposal  by  Dennis,  that  of  printing  by  subscription  in 
two  volumes  octavo  the  following  Miscellaneous  Tracts:  the 
Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  Rinaldo 
and  Armida,  a  Tragedy,  etc.  In  this  Proposal  Dennis  in- 
cluded three  letters  of  Observations  on  the  Paradise  Lost  of 
Milton  and  one  to  Congreve  entitled  a  Defence  of  Mr. 
Wycherley's  Characters  in  the  Plain-dealer.  The  letters  on 
Paradise  Lost  are  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  a  consideration 
of  Addison's  critiques  of  that  poem  and  show  in  an  interesting 
manner  how,  in  reading  the  epic,  the  old  critic  found  it 
"next  to  impossible  to  resist  the  violent  Emotions  which  the 
Greatness  of  the  Subject  roused"  in  him.  In  all  probability 
this  new  proposal  met  with  but  scant  encouragement,  for  it  was 
not  till  I727109  that  there  appeared  a  volume  of  Miscellaneous 
Tracts,  which  contains,  besides  the  tragedy  just  mentioned,  the 
Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry  and  the 

108aThe  Daily  Courant  states  that  the  Select  Works  were  published  on 
February  2,  1718-19. 

109  In  the  Plain  Dealer  for  September  25,  1724,  appeared  a  letter  by  one 
of  Dennis's  friends,  urging  the  Town  to  subscribe  for  the  Miscellaneous 
Tracts. 


103 

Usefulness  of  the  Stage  to  the  Happiness  of  Mankind. 
Dennis  and  the  printers  miscalculated  the  number  of  pages 
necessary,  and  the  subscribers  were  few110  and  slow 
to  pay,  so  that  it  is  little  wonder  that  though  the  author  had  the 
second  volume  ready  for  the  press,  he  never  undertook  to  print 
it,  especially  as  the  publication  was  entirely  at  his  own  expense. 
In  1732  an  attempt  was  made  in  the  way  of  charity  to  reprint 
some  of  his  works,  but  the  project  failed  for  want  of 
subscribers. 

In  his  last  years  Dennis  returned  to  the  task  of  translation 
and  at  the  request  of  Thos.  Burnet's110a  literary  executor,  F. 
Wilkinson  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  turned  into  English  the  De  Fide  et 
Officiis  Christianorum.1*-1  He  dedicated  this  translation,  which 
was  probably  published  about  1728,  to  Queen  Caroline,  on  the. 
ground  that  Burnet  had  inscribed  many  of  his  writings  to 
members  of  the  royal  family,  and  that  he  would  have  been 
pleased  to  lay  this  work  at  the  feet  of  her  Gracious  Majesty. 
It  is  interesting  to  compare  Dennis's  preface  with  that  of  his 
Passion  of  Byblis,  published  forty  years  before,  and  to  note 
that  he  had  not  changed  his  ideas  on  the  function  of  the 
translator. 

110  Among  the  names  of  the  hundred  and  twenty  subscribers  which  appear 
at  the  beginning  of  the  volume  may  be  noted  those  of  Barton  Booth,  Con- 
'greve,   Gildon,   Hill,  Mallet,   Pope,   Savage,  and  Thomson. 

UOaHis  dates  are  i635?-i7i5.  Those  of  Sir  Thos.  Burnet,  p.  96,  are 
i632?-i7is?.  See  the  D.  N.  B. 

111  The  Faith  and  Duties  of  Christians.     A    Treatise  in  Eight  Chapters 
Written  originally  in  Latin  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Burnet,  Master  of 
the  Charterhouse.     Translated  into  English  by  Mr.  Dennis,  London,  n.  d. 
Burnet's  De  Statu  and  his  De  Fide  were  surreptitiously  published  in  1726 
and  1727  respectively.     Wilkinson  then  printed  these  books  authoritatively, 
the  De  Fide  in  June,   1727,  and  the  De  Statu  during  the  following  Octo- 
ber.    He   also   secured   Dennis  to   translate  these  works.     The  critic's   ad- 
vanced age,   ill  health,   and  almost  total  blindness  were  probably  respon- 
sible for  the  interval  of  five  years  which  elapsed  between  the  publication 
of  the  former  and  the  latter  of  these  translations.    It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  Read's  Journal  for  January  29,  1727,  states  that  Mr.  Dennis  the  cele- 
brated critic  was  going  into  holy  orders,  and  that  he  had  translated  Burnet's 
De  Statu  Mortuorum.     The  first  of  these  statements  is,   obviously,  simply 
another  of  the  many  genial  hits  at  the  critic,  while  the  second  indicates 
that  the  delay   in  publishing  this   translation  may  not  have  been   entirely 
Dennis's  fault. 


104 

Another  translation  from  Burnet,  that  of  De  Statu  mortu- 
orum  et  resur gentium*12  1733,  practically  closes  Dennis's  long 
and  varied  literary  career.  The  task  must  have  been  a  trial 
for  the  old  man  of  seventy-six  years,  "  deprived  of  sight  unless 
the  object  is  near/'  and  working  under  the  bitter  constraint  of 
want.  Yet  even  these  hardships  failed  to  soften  his  old,  fiery 
independence,  for  he  stated  in  the  preface  that  he  had  been 
urged  to  complete  this  task,  which  he  had  begun  many  years 
before,  by  the  knowledge  that  the  tract  had  been  unworthily 
translated  by  another.  It  would  be  unjust  to  expect  Dennis  to 
produce  any  remarkable  work  under  the  conditions  with  which 
he  was  then  struggling,  but  this  translation  shows  the  old  critic 
anything  but  the  drivelling  idiot  he  has  sometimes  been  repre- 
sented as  being.113 

These  last  years  were  a  time  of  great  need;  for  though,  at 
Lord  Halifax's  insistence,  Dennis  had  reserved  the  income 
from  his  waitership  for  a  time  seemingly  ample  for  his  prob- 
able life,  he  survived  this  reversion  and  was  consequently  re- 
duced to  a  distressing  poverty.  Early  in  January,  1725,  John 
Rich,  then  patentee  of  the  Lincoln's-Inn-Fields  theater, 
voluntarily  offered  to  produce  "  for  the  Benefit  of  so  Learned 
a  Benefactor  of  the  Stage,  as  Mr.  Dennis"  any  play  that  the 
critic  might  select.114  For  this  occasion  Dennis  chose  not  his 
own  beloved  Liberty  Asserted,  but  the  "  Old  Batchelor,  the 
Work  of  his  Old  Friend  Mr.  Congreve."  In  1730  appeared 
in  the  newspapers  advertisements  of  a  subscription  for  his 
benefit.  According  to  Mr.  Thomas  Cook115  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke sent  Dennis  presents  for  the  last  nine  or  ten  years  of  his 
life,  at  one  time  thirty  guineas,  and  several  times  a  year  five  or 
ten  guineas;  and  Walpole  in  consideration  of  the  critic's  age 
and  infirmities,  allowed  him  20  1.  a  year  for  several  years. 
Dennis's  old  friend  Bishop  Atterbury,  then  in  exile  in  France, 

112  A  Treatise  Concerning  the  State  of  Departed  Souls.     Before  and  At, 
and  After  the  Resurrection.     Written  originally  in  Latin  by  the  late  Rev. 
Dr.  Thomas  Burnet,  Master  of  the  Charter  House,  Author  of  the  Theory 
of  the  Earth.     Translated  into  English  by  Mr.  Dennis. 

113  Wilson's  Memoirs  of  .  .  .   Congreve,   II,    136. 
u*  The  Plain  Dealer,  January  i,  1724/5. 

us  Gentleman's  Magazine,  XLV,  Pt.  I,   105-106. 


105 

was  another  of  his  benefactors,  sending  him  at  the  time  the 
subscription  was  announced  £  100,  though  he  was  obliged  to 
borrow  the  money  for  the  purpose.116  But  these  chance  bene- 
factions, which  were  apparently  almost  the  sole  source  of 
Dennis's  income,  afforded  him  a  very  precarious  livelihood. 
Mr.  Cook  goes  on  to  declare,  in  the  letter  just  cited,  that  at 
this  time  Dennis  "  got  a  good  deal  by  his  writings ; "  but  this 
statement  is  so  evidently  untrue  as  to  require  no  discussion. 

After  the  failure  of  the  proposal  to  aid  Dennis  by  republish- 
ing  some  of  his  works,  another  and  more  practical  plan  was 
suggested  and  carried  out,  yielding  him  about  £  100.  Through 
the  interest  of  Thomson,117  Martyn,  Mallet,  and  Pope,  the 

u'  Atterbury's   Correspondence,    1783,    I,   262. 

UT  Dennis's  friendship  for  Thomson  is  reflected  in  a  poem  which  Mr. 
Roberts  has  quoted  in  the  4th  volume  of  the  Bookworm  as  a  specimen 
of  our  authors  better  verse : 

"  JOHN  DENNIS  TO  MR.  THOMSON. 
"  When  I  reflect  thee  o'er,  methinks  I  find 

Thy  various   Seasons  in  their  author's   mind ! 

Spring,  in  thy  flow'ry  fancy  spreads  her  hues; 

And,  like  thy  soft  compassion,  sheds  her  dews. 

Summer's   hot    strength    in    thy    expression   glows; 

And  o'er  thy  page  a  heavy  ripeness  throws. 

Autumn's    rich    fruits    th'    instructed    reader    gains, 

Who  tastes   the   meaning  purpose   of  thy   strains. 

Winter — but  it  no   semblance  bears  to   thee  ! 

That   hoary   season's   type   was   drawn   from   Me — 

Shatter'd    by    Time's    bleak    storms    I    with'ring    lay, 

Leafless   and   whit'ning   in   a   cold   decay. 

Yet   shall    my    propless    Ivy — pale    and    bent, 

Bless  the  short  sunshine  which  thy  pity  lent." 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  Dennis  really  wrote  these  verses.  He  was 
seventy  six  at  the  time  of  their  publication  and  had  practically  written  no 
verse  for  twenty  years.  Then,  too,  they  are  different  from  Dennis's  usual 
tone — he  was  not  much  given  to  pitying  himself.  Moreover,  our  suspi- 
cions regarding  his  authorship  are  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
same  number  of  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  in  which  the  above  first  ap- 
peared, there  was  also  a  short  poem  by  Savage,  To  Mr.  Thomson,  Au- 
thor of  the  Poem  of  the  Four  Seasons,  on  occasion  of  the  Part  which  that 
Gentleman  took,  in  the  concern  of  Mr.  Dennis's  late  Benefit.  It  is  re- 
ported that  when  Dennis  heard  these  latter  lines,  which  appeared  anony- 
mously, he  declared  that  they  must  have  been  written  by  "  that  fool 
Savage." 


106 

Provoked  Husband  was  acted  for  his  benefit,  December  8, 
I733>  by  the  little  company  in  the  Haymarket.  Pope  was 
especially  active  in  behalf  of  his  old  enemy118  and  wrote  for 
the  performance  a  prologue,  which  was  spoken  by  Theophilus 
Gibber.  This  prologue  is  a  clever  piece  of  work,  apparently 
friendly,  but  with  a  covert  sneer  in  almost  every  line,  a  per- 
formance which  gained  the  writer  the  passing  title  of  "  the 
charitable  Cynic."  Four  lines  may  be  quoted  as  typical  of  the 
spirit  of  the  whole : 

"  How  changed  from  him  who  made  the  boxes  groan 
And  shook  the  stage  with  thunder  all  his  own! 
Stood    up    to    dash    each    vain    Pretender's    hope, 
Maul   the    French    tyrant,    or   pull    down    the    Pope." 

Dennis  survived  his  benefit  but  a  short  time,  dying  January 
6,  1734.  He  was  buried  at  the  parish  church  of  St.  Martin's 
in  the  Fields. 

The  next  number  of  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  January, 
1734  (p.  47),  described  him  as  "the  last  classick  Wit  of  King 
Charles's  Reign;"  and  Aaron  Hill  composed  some  Verses 
written  on  the  Death  of  Mr.  Dennis,  which  were  published  the 
same  year  in  a  short  and  hastily  written  Life.119  This 
anonymous  biography  of  about  sixty  pages  of  large  type  is,  on 
the  whole,  very  sympathetic  and  gives  a  good  deal  of  curious 
information  about  Dennis.  Later  there  appeared  in  Gibber's 
Lives  of  the  Poets  an  interesting  though  biased  account  of  the 
critic.  The  article  by  Kippis  for  the  second  edition  of  the 
Biographia  Britannic  a,  probably  written  between  1780-1785, 
is  incomplete  and  inaccurate.  Excepting  such  incidental  work  as 
that  by  Genest  in  his  Account  of  the  English  Stage,  nothing  was 
done  in  the  way  of  a  life  of  Dennis  till  Mr.  William  Roberts 
published  his  interesting  articles  in  the  Bookworm  in  1891  and 
wrote  the  article  for  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

118  In  his  Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot  Pope  took  occasion  to  pride  himself 
on  his  charity : 

"  This  dreadful  satirist  Dennis  will  confess, 
Foe  to  his  pride,  but  friend  to  his  distress." — Works,  III,  269. 

119  The  Life  of  Mr.  John  Dennis,  The  Renown' d  Critick.     In  which  are 
likewise  Some  Observations  on  most  of  the  Poets  and  Criticks,  his  Contem- 
poraries.    Not  written  by  Mr.  Curll.     London   1734. 


107 

Two  comparatively  unimportant  pieces  by  Dennis  were 
brought  to  light  in  the  Monthly  Magazine  for  June,  1817,  one 
a  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  .  .  .  the  other  an  essay  on  the  Causes 
of  the  Decay  and  Defects  of  Dramatick  Poetry,  and  the  De- 
generacy of  the  Publick  Taste.  In  an  explanatory  note  the 
editor  states  that  the  letter  and  essay  had  been  discovered 
among  the  manuscript  papers  of  the  late  Mr.  Richardson,  who 
"  had  endorsed  on  the  back  of  the  essay,  '  Copies  lodged  by  Mr. 
Dennis  for  money  borrowed/  "  Only  a  part  of  the  essay  ap- 
peared in  this  June  number  of  the  Monthly  Magazine,  the 
editor  promising  to  complete  the  publication  in  an  early  issue. 
For  some  reason  he  never  kept  this  promise;  and  Dennis's 
manuscript  has  disappeared.  Its  loss,  however,  is  not  a  matter 
for  serious  regret,  since  this  essay  is  simply  a  pot-boiler, 
adding  little  or  nothing  to  what  the  critic  had  previously  urged 
and  reurged. 

But  three  of  Dennis's  writings  have  been  republished  since 
his  death:120  his  translation  of  the  select  letters  of  Voiture,  in 
1736;  his  Essay  on  the  Genius  and  Writings  of  Shake  spear  in 
Smith's  Eighteenth  Century  Essays  on  Shakespeare,  1903 ;  and 
the  Impartial  Critick  in  the  third  volume  of  Professor  Spin- 
garn's  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  1909.  These 
two  recent  republications  are  such  as  to  make  us  hope  for  the 
fulfillment  of  the  desire  expressed  by  Dr.  Johnson,121  and  later 
echoed  by  Southey,122  that  Dennis's  critical  writings  may  be 
collected. 

120 "  At  the  sale  of  Mr.  Bindley's  library  (1818)  Dennis's  various  works 
in  twelve  volumes  produced  i  £.13  s."  Lowndes's  Bibliographers'  Manual 
of  English  Literature,  1858,  II,  628. 

121  Hill's  Johnsonian  Miscellanies,   III,   40. 

122  Specimens  of  the  Later  English  Poets,  London,   1807,  I,  306. 


DENNIS  AS   A   CRITIC 


OUTLINE  OF  His  CRITICAL  CAREER 

The  biography  which  has  just  'been  given  reveals  a  life  of 
prolonged  and  varied  activities.  For  half  a  century  Dennis 
labored  as  a  poet,  dramatist,  letter  writer,  political  pamphleteer, 
translator,  and  critic,  indefatigably  turning  from  one  form  of 
composition  to  another.  As  a  pamphleteer  and  translator  he 
has  today  been  practically  forgotten;  as  a  poet  and  dramatist 
he  has  fared  but  little  better;  and  as  a  critic  he  has  been  re- 
membered chiefly  as  one  of  the  bitter  enemies  of  Pope.  It 
seems  probable,  indeed,  that  the  larger  part  of  Dennis's  work 
will  never  interest  any  but  students  of  early  eighteenth  'cen- 
tury literature,  and  that  most  of  his  numerous  writings  are 
doomed  to  oblivion.  In  his  own  day,  however,  he  was  re- 
garded as  an  important  member  of  the  republic  of  letters,  be- 
ing commonly  referred  to  as  "the  Critic;"  and  this  title  hasi 
clung  to  his  name  for  over  two  centuries.  Moreover,  within 
the  last  quarter  of  a  century  one  may  observe  a  growing  dis- 
position to  regard  him  as  "a  serious  and  well  equipped" 
judge  of  letters,  representing  many  of  the  critical  tendencies  of 
his  age,  and  anticipating  some  of  the  verdicts  and  opinions  of 
later  critics.  It  seems  proper,  therefore,  to  consider  what  were 
the  chief  critical  tendencies  of  Dennis's  time,  what  was  his  atti- 
tude toward  them,  and  what  has  been  his  influence  upon  sub- 
sequent criticism.  In  beginning,  then,  let  us  characterize 
briefly  and  in  a  somewhat  anticipatory  fashion  the  main  divi- 
sions of  his  critical  writings  and  note  some  of  the  particular 
influences  of  his  life  and  times  upon  him.  His  career  as  a 
critic,  it  seems,  falls  naturally  into  the  three  periods  indicated 
in  the  sketch  of  his  life — the  first  including  his  work  to  1700, 
the  second  from  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  to 
1710,  and  the  third  from  1710  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1734. 

108 


109 

The  first  of  these  divisions  may  be  characterized  as  the 
v  formative  period,  when  he  was  acquiring  and  reflecting  some  of 
the  ideas  of  his  masters,  such  as  Le  Bossu,  St.  fivremond, 
Rymer,  and  Dryden.  Of  these  masters  the  one  most  potent 
with  Dennis  was  Dryden,  whose  influence  upon  our  author 
and  the  other  young  men  of  his  coterie  evoked  Shaftsbury's 
sneer.1  This  influence  of  Dryden  is  particularly  noticeable  in 
Dennis's  first  critical  discussion,  the  Impartial  Critick,  1693.  In 
this  answer  to  Rymer's  proposal  to  introduce  the  Greek  chorus 
into  the  English  drama  Dennis  employed  practically  the  same 
arguments  that  Dryden  had  set  down  in  his  "  Heads  "  of  an 
answer  to  that  project.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Dryden 
and  Dennis  discussed  together  this  question  of  the  use  of  the 
chorus  and  other  critical  problems  of  the  time,  and  that  the 
former  led  the  latter  to  a  thorough  study  of  the  French  critics. 
In  the  years  of  his  acquaintance  with  Dennis  Dryden  had  at 
his  command  a  fairly  wide  knowledge  of  contemporary  French 
critics,  whom  he  regarded  with  a  respect  that  unquestionably 
influenced  his  follower.  Dennis  soon  came  to  be  familiar  with 
the  criticisms  of  Rapin  and  Le  Bossu,  the  half  English  St. 
fivremond,  Dacier  and  Boileau,  so  that  his  earlier  critical  writ- 
ings are  in  good  measure  reexpressions  of  their  ideas.  For 
example,  his  second  important  venture  in  criticism,  the  Re- 
marks upon  Blackmore's  Prince  Arthur,  1696,  is,  as  will  later 
be  shown  in  detail,  simply  an  application  of  Le  Bossu's  theories 
in  judgment  of  this  fashionable  epic.  Dennis  accepted  Le 
Bossu's  laws  for  the  plot,  character,  manners,  etc.,  and  then 
judged  Blackmore's  poem  by  these  canons.  Our  author's 
knowledge  of  French  literature  was,  however,  by  no  means 
confined  to  criticism,  for  like  Dryden  he  also  possessed  a  very 
fair  acquaintance  with  the  chief  French  dramatists,  if  we  may 
judge  by  the  numerous  and  apt  allusions  he  makes  to  them, 
especially  to  Corneille,  Racine,  and  Moliere.  With  St.  fivre- 
mond  Dennis  praised  Corneille's  tragic  above  his  comic  genius ; 
and  with  that  same  critic,  too,  he  considered  that  of  all  French 
comedies  Moliere's  best  exemplified  the  true  spirit  of  their 
type. 

1  Supra,  p.  7. 


110 

His  application  to  the  classics  was  even  closer.  His  ac- 
quaintance with  Greek,  however,  though  it  far  surpassed  that 
of  either  Dryden  or  Pope,  was  somewhat  inferior  to  his  knowl- 
edge of  Latin.2  Nevertheless,  on  the  whole,  his  classical  attain- 
ments were  so  great  that  he  was  frequently  and  seriously  re- 
ferred to  as  "the  learned  Mr.  Dennis,"  a  title  which  the 
enemies  of  his  later  years  sometimes  applied  to  him  with  mock 
respect. 

Despite  his  regard  for  the  classics,  however,  Dennis  did  not 
hesitate  to  join  with  the  wits  of  the  day  in  burlesquing  them. 
The  fashion  for  burlesque,  which  had  flourished  in  France  with 
Scarron  and  had  reached  its  height  in  England  during  the  late 
seventeenth  century,  was  essentially  antagonistic  to  the  prevail- 
ing exaltation  of  the  classics.  Travesties  and  burlesques  of 
Vergil,  Ovid,  and  other  Latin  writers  were  then  numerous; 
and,  despite  his  love  for  the  ancients,  Dennis  joined  in  the 
fashion,  publishing  as  one  of  his  very  earliest  ventures  in 
letters,  1692,  the  Poems  in  Burlesque.  In  his  plays,  however, 
Dennis  kept  fairly  close  to  the  neo-classical  standards,  so  that 
his  dramas  were  praised  by  Jacob  and  others  as  "perfectly 
regular  performances." 

Being  himself  a  playwright,  Dennis  very  naturally  under- 
took his  third  important  venture  in  criticism — the  reply  to 
Collier's  attack  on  the  stage.  The  arguments  of  the  greater 
part  of  Dennis's  book  are  negligible,  for,  as  he  himself  recog- 
nized, his  discussion  of  the  opinions  of  the  church  fathers  is  of 

2  The  extent  of  his  reading  may  be  inferred  from  his  Reflections  upon  an 
Essay  on  Criticism  (p.  4)  where  he  states  his  preference  among  the  clas- 
sics :  "  Of  all  the  poets  among  the  Greeks  I  only  admire  Homer,  Sopho- 

,  cles,  Pindar  and  Euripides,  tho'  I  am  very  much  pleased  with  some  of  the 
rest ;  and  of  the  poets  among  the  Romans,  I  admire  only  Virgil  and  Hor- 
ace and  some  parts  of  Lucretius;  though  I  am  very  much  pleased  with 

•(  Catullus,  Terrence  and  others.  As  for  Lycophron,  Nonnus,  Apollonius 
Rhodius,  Valerius  Flaccus,  Silius  Italicus,  Statius,  I  prefer  the  Paradise 
Lost  of  Milton  before  them  altogether."  In  his  Remarks  on  the  Con- 
scious Lovers  (p.  28)  Dennis  states,  "  The  very  character  of  Simo  in  the 
Andria  is  admirable,  and  the  relation  he  makes  to  Scotia  a  masterpiece. 
I  never  read  it  but  I  see  the  old  Athenian  before  my  eyes  in  the  same 
colors  that  Daves  paints  Critho  the  Andrian  in  the  same  comedy.  What 
he  says  goes  to  my  heart." 


Ill 

slight  worth ;  and  the  modern  reader  is  likely  to  give  but  little 
more  heed  to  his  consideration  of  the  attitude  of  antiquity 
toward  the  stage.  His  best  argument  lay  in  his  contention  that 
Collier  was  right  in  attacking  the  abuses  of  the  play  house,  but 
that  he  was  wrong  in  his  onslaught  against  the  stage  itself. 
This  reply  to  Collier  was  Dennis's  last  important  criticism  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  it  added  not  a  little  to  his  reputa- 
tion. Indeed,  during  the  closing  years  of  the  century,  when 
Rymer  and  Blackmore  flourished,  Dennis  might  well  be  ranked 
after  Dryden  as  the  nation's  most  important  critic.  v 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Dryden  Dennis  produced  his  prin-    V 
cipal  independent  work,  the  Advancement  and  Reformation  of 
Modern  Poetry,  which  is  an  amplification  and  defense  of  his  j 
belief  that  by  infusing  religious  enthusiasm  into  their  poetry,  | 
the  moderns  might  come  to  equal  the  ancients.     Three  years 
later,  1704,  appeared  the  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  which 
carried  this  novel  doctrine  as  far  as  Dennis  apparently  was 
able  to  advance  it.     In  the  Grounds  he  appeared  entangled 
with  the  conventional  critical  ideas  of  his  time  and  seemingly 
helpless  to  offer  much  practical  advice  for  perfecting  this  union 
of   religion  and  poetry.     His  theory,  however,  gained  some 
support,  partly  because  it  seemed  substantiated  by  the  writings 
of  Milton,  whom  our  author  praised  so  highly,  and  partly 
because  it  was  enunciated  by  Dennis ;  for  in  the  first  decade  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  brief  as  that  period  may  be,  he  was 
generally  recognized  as  England's   foremost  critic,  and  even    * 
in  his  later  years  he  was  frequently  assigned  this  position.        / 

While  Dennis's  reputation  with  his  contemporaries  was 
founded  largely  upon  the  two  works  just  mentioned,  the 
present  age  may  well  place  an  equal  or  a  greater  value  upon 
another  of  his  writings  of  the  same  period,  his  Large  Account 
of  the  Taste  in  Poetry,  1702.  This  tract,  with  its  keen  con- 
sideration of  the  influence  of  political  and  social  conditions 
upon  the  production  of  letters  and  its  clear-sighted  comparison 
of  the  taste  of  his  own  age  with  that  of  the  Restoration, 
deserves  most  of  the  praise  bestowed  upon  it  by  Mr. 
Swinburne.3 

*St.  James's  Gazette,  November  8,  1895. 


112 

Two  other  criticisms  of  slight  importance — a  second  reply 
to  Collier  and  an  attack  upon  the  Italian  operas — appeared  in 
this  same  decade;  but  his  numerous  labors  of  the  first  five 
years  of  the  century  seem  to  have  exhausted  the  critic,  so  that 
the  second  half  of  the  decade  was  comparatively  unproductive. 
In  1711  appeared  his  Essay  on  the  Genius  and  Writings  of 
Shakespear,  in  which  Dennis  maintained,  after  Dryden,  that  the 
Elizabethan  was  "  one  of  the  greatest  Geniuses  the  world  had 
ever  seen  for  the  Tragick  stage,"  and  that  his  beauties  were  all 
his  own  and  his  faults  those  of  his  environment. 

About  the  time  of  the  publication  of  this  Essay  came  a 
change  in  Dennis's  fortunes  as  a  critic.  His  preeminence  as  a 
judge  of  letters  through  the  first  ten  years  of  the  century  was 
due  in  part  at  least  to  the  lack  of  any  serious  competitor;  but 
with  the  passing  years  came  changing  critical  theory  and 
literary  practice,  and  the  age  of  Dryden  gave  way  to  the  age  of 
Pope.  Dennis's  convictions  and  prejudices  then  began  to  grate 
more  and  more  against  the  current  critical  tendencies,  and  the 
innate  dogmatism  of  this  censor  of  letters  was  intensified  by  a 
new  and  formidable  opposition.  Against  a  possible  broaden- 
ing of  his  views  weighed  his  increasing  years  and  his  dimming 
eyesight.  It  is  thoroughly  significant  that  Dennis  should  have 
been  greatly  influenced  by  Rapin  and  Le  Bossu  and  but  little 
by  La  Bruyere,  whom  Addison  and  the  other  younger  critics 
valued  so  highly.  Nor  were  his  views  in  his  later  years  likely 
to  be  broadened  by  his  close  association  with  Gildon,  whose 
Complete  Art  of  Poetry,  1718,  stands  as  one  of  the  last  de- 
fenses of  the  mechanical  rules.  In  the  beginning  of  his  Intro- 
duction to  that  book  Gildon  refers  to  his  'daily  intercourse 
with  Dennis,  and  in  the  Preface  he  gives  a  hint  as  to  their  com- 
mon critical  interests: 

"  Whatever  I  have  found  to  my  design  in  Aristotle  (chiefly)  ;  in  Hor- 
ace ;  in  Dyon^sius  of  Halicarnassus,  Boileau,  Rapin,  Dacier,  Gerard  Vos- 
sius's  Poetical  Institutions,  the  late  Duke  of  Buckinghamshire's  most  ex- 
cellent Essay  on  Poetry,  Mr.  Dennis  or  any  other,  I  have  made  bold  with." 

This  list,  which  is  significant  no  less  for  what  it  omits  than  for 
what  it  includes,  probably  represents  the  basis  of  Gildon's 
critical  discussions  with  Dennis  over  their  modest  libations. 


113 

\^ 

Two  strongly  marked  characteristics  of  Dennis's  criticism 

during  these  later  years  of  his  life  may  be  noted — one  the  | 
growing  mistrust  of  any  literary  innovations  and  the  other  an  '  • 
increasing  veneration  for  the  rules.  Both  were  largely  the  / 1 
result  of  his  surroundings.  It  is  easy  to  see  in  the  light  of  his  j ' 
biography  why  this  self-opinionated  and  proud  old  man  should 
have  clung  to  the  past  and  should  have  felt  that  the  national 
taste  was  degenerating.  Furthermore,  in  his  attacks  upon  the 
works  of  another  generation  he  was  forced  more  and  more  to 
defend  the  critical  tenets  the  age  was  outgrowing.  In  fact 
the  writings  of  his  later  years  advance  few  critical  beliefs 
which  have  contributed  to  his  reputation.  Of  these  few  criti- 
cisms which  are  to  be  noted  as  exceptions,  the  chief  are  his  ^ 
Remarks  upon  Cato  and  those  upon  Pope's  Translation  of 
Homer.  In  the  former  Dennis  opposed  a  strict  adherence  to 
the  unities  of  time  and  place  and  argued  effectively  against  any  L~. 
servile  observance  of  them.  In  his  attack  upon  Pope's  version ' 
of  Homer  he  indicated  with  considerable  acumen  the  weak- 
nesses of  that  translation  both  in  spirit  and  in  style ;  while  his 
censures  on  Pope's  heroic  couplets  anticipate  nearly  everything 
noticed  by  subsequent  criticism.  But  even  this  better  work  is 
marred  by  his  growing  pedanticism.  He  added  to  his  criti- 
cism of  Cato  an  almost  valueless  discussion  of  the  sentiments 
of  the  play  and  overweighted  his  vital  censures  of  Pope's 
translation  with  a  burden  of  petty  cavils.  This  same  tone  pre- 
vails throughout  his  comments  on  the  Rape  of  the  Lock  and  on 
the  Dunciad  and  throughout  his  criticisms  of  Steele.  In  his 
judgment  of  these  writers  his  growing  insistence  upon  the 
value  of  conformity  to  the  laws  of  the  type  is  especially 
marked;  and  he  sometimes  went  to  the  point  of  denying  the 
name  of  literature  to  such  writings  as  did  not  conform  to  these 
standards.  Indeed  he  shows  so  little  of  his  old  penetration  in 
these  later  diatribes  that  on  the  whole  his  reputation  would 
have  gained  rather  than  lost,  had  he  published  nothing  during 
his  last  fifteen  years.  In  the  years  just  preceding  his  death, 
when  Pope  had  cast  opprobrium  upon  verbal  criticism,  some 
of  the  contemporary  writers,  such  as  Fielding  in  his  Tragedy  of 
Tragedies,  helped  fix  on  Dennis  the  reputation  of  a  literal- 
9 


114 

minded,  caviling  critic,  given  him  by  Pope  and  the  other 
enemies  of  his  old  age;  and  this  reputation  has  clung  to  him 
even  till  today.  Viewed  in  its  entirety,  Dennis's  critical  career 
may  be  summarized  as  beginning  with  the  commonly  accepted 
beliefs  of  his  time,  then  working  toward  freer  conceptions, 
some  of  which  anticipated  doctrines  that  have  been  assigned 
to  later  critics,  and  finally  hardening  into  conservatism  and 
emphasizing  the  more  conventional  beliefs  of  his  earlier  years. 

II 

THE  PRINCIPAL  CRITICAL  TENDENCIES  OF  THE  AGE 
A.  Neo  classicism 

To  understand  the  beliefs  common  at  the  time  Dennis  began 
his  critical  career,  we  may  well  inquire  what  were  the  chief 
critical  tendencies  of  the  period,  what  in  brief  was  their  his- 
tory, and  what  their  relations  with  each  other.  Though  we 
may  question  the  exactness  and  completeness  of  any  analysis  of 
these  critical  tendencies  of  the  time  (for  seventeenth  century 
criticism  is,  as  Professor  Spingarn  has  well  put  it,  "a  very 
troubled  stream"),  still  we  may  find  it  helpful  at  least  to  indi- 
cate some  of  the  main  currents  of  the  period  and  to  suggest  their 
principal  characteristics  and  their  chief  interrelations.  Five 
such  tendencies  in  English  criticism  near  the  close  of  the! 
seventeenth  century  may  be  noted, — the  neo-classical,  the 
rationalistic,  the  patriotic,  the  moralistic,  and  that  of  the  school 
of  taste.  Each  of  these  movements  had  at  its  center  some  well 
marked  idea  which  gave  it  character;  although  in  their  practi- 
cal workings  in  the  writings  of  the  age,  these  various  tenden- 
cies sometimes  reenforced,  sometimes  opposed  one  another. 
Of  course  while  operative  in  the  seventeenth  century,  they  were 
not  always  analyzed  and  discriminated  as  they  have  been  by 
later  critics  who  have  enjoyed  the  perspective  afforded  by  the 
passing  of  time.  Occasionally  the  writers  of  those  days  recog- 
nized the  clash  of  these  forces  and  attempted  to  find  grounds 
for  a  reconcilement;  sometimes  they  were  satisfied  simply  to 
phrase  the  conflict  or  contrast ;  sometimes  they  did  not  perceive 
that  certain  of  these  tendencies  were  potent  in  their  work.  Of 


115 

these  several  tendencies  one  of  the  most  prominent  was  the 
neo-classical,  and  with  it  we  may  well  begin  the  consideration 
of  these  different  literary  currents. 

The  Italians  of  the  later  Renaissance  had  evolved  a  body 
of  formal  criticism  based  on  the  ancients,  which  had  been  re- 
ceived by  the  French  and  developed  still  further  in  the  six- 
teenth and  more  especially  in  the  seventeenth  centuries.  It 
was  to  DuBellay,  says  Professor  Spingarn,1  "  that  France  owes 
the  introduction  of  classical  ideas  into  French  literature;" 
but  it  was  Chapelain  who  introduced  the  formal  rules  of  the 
Italians.2  These  critical  ideas  were  carried  on  through 
Corneille  and  Rapin,  till  under  Boileau,  they  became  not  rules 
but  "laws  inevitable  and  infallible."3  It  was  from  the 
Italians,  however,  rather  than  from  the  French  that  these  rules 
were  received  by  Sidney  and  his  age,  whose  work  practically 
marks  the  beginning  of  English  literary  criticism;  though  it 
was  customary  for  Englishmen  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  to  ignore  the  other  earlier  critics  and  to  declare 
with  Rymer4  that  Ben  Jonson  had  had  all  the  critical  learning 
to  himself.  With  the  progress  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
however,  closer  relations  had  arisen  between  England  and 
France,  not  only  politically  but  also  intellectually,  so  that  the 
writings  of  the  French  critics  gained  on  the  island  increased 
attention  and  respect.  Finally  with  Dryden's  Essay  of  Dra- 
matic Poesy  the  arguments  of  French  criticism  were  fully  in- 
troduced into  English.5 

The  principal  characteristics  of  this  neo-classicism  may  be 
briefly  summarized,  for  practically  all  of  them  sprang  from  an 
attempt  to  discover  how  modern  writers  might  comprehend 

1  History  of  Literary   Criticism  in  the  Renaissance,  with  Special  Refer- 
ence to  the  Influence  of  Italy  in  the  Formation  and  Development  of  Mod- 
ern Classicism,  New  York,    1899,   p.   215. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  243. 
*Ibid.,  p.  248. 

4  Preface  to  his  translation  of  Rapin's  Reflections  on  Aristotle,  1674. 
In  the  Discourse  concerning  Satire  Dryden  speaks  of  "  Ben's  close  monopoly 
of  the  rules."  Ker,  Essays  of  John  Dryden,  Oxford,  1900,  II,  17. 

8  Spingarn,  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  Oxford,  1908, 
I,  Ixiii. 


116 

and  make  their  own  the  greatness  of  the  classics.6  The  rules 
evolved  by  the  neo-classicists  were  based  in  part  upon  the 
practice  of  a  few  writers,  such  as  Vergil  and  Homer,  but  more 
especially  upon  the  precepts  of  Aristotle  and  Horace,  whose 
every  utterance  was  examined  and  elaborated  with  a  minute  and 
not  always  consistent  pedanticism  by  such  critics  as  Rapin, 
Le  Bossu,  and  Dacier,7  into  a  system  that  was  considered 

6Dacier  in  his  Oeuvres  d'Horace  (Amsterdam,  1735),  p.  70,  states  "Car 
il  est  faux  qu'il  y  ait  deux  bons  gouts,  il  n'y  en  a  qu'un,  et  c'est  celui  de 
1'antique." 

T  Rapin,  Le  Bossu,  and  Dacier  did  much  to  establish  Aristotle's  authority 
in  England.  Many  of  Dryden's  views  regarding  the  rules  were  derived 
from  these  French  critics,  and  to  him  and  them  Dennis  was  largely  in- 
debted for  his  ideas  on  the  subject  of  regularity.  Throughout  his  entire 
career  he  quoted  Rapin  frequently  and  almost  always  with  respect,  if  not 
with  agreement.  In  the  Complete  Art  of  Poetry }  1718,  Gildon  referred  to 
the  French  critic  as  our  author's  "  old  acquaintance." 

Le  Bossu,  with  his  treatise  on  the  epic,  did  much  to  popularize  the  rules 
both  in  France  and  in  England.  Dryden  in  his  last  years  valued  this 
writer  highly  and  called  him  the  best  of  the  modern  critics  (Saintsbury's 
History  of  Criticism,  II,  314)  ;  while  Buckingham  paid  him  the  highest 
of  tributes  as  disclosing  the  secrets  of  the  epic  (Essay  on  Poetry,  11.  289 
ff.).  Dennis  practically  repeated  the  sentiments  there  expressed  when  he 
declared  that  no  modern  had  understood  the  epic  till  Le  Bossu  had  un- 
ravelled it  (Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.  201). 
We  have  already  noticed  that  our  author  adopted  Le  Bossu's  scheme  in 
judging  Blackmore's  Prince  Arthur. 

Dacier  is  the  French  critic  of  the  times  who  stands  as  perhaps  the  most 
thoroughgoing  neo-classicist.  His  comments  on  Aristotle  and  on  Horace  did 
much  to  load-  the  rules  on  English  critics,  including  Dryden  and  Dennis. 
The  former  quoted  him  with  respect  in  the  prefaces  to  his  translations  of 
Vergil  and  of  Juvenal,  while  the  latter  frequently  cited  his  authority  and 
praised  his  "  excellent  comment  on  Aristotle's  Art  of  Poetry  "  (Stage  De- 
fended, p.  9).  Dennis  did  not  hesitate,  however,  to  attack  some  of  Dacier's 
ideas,  such  as  the  plea  for  the  restoration  of  the  chorus ;  but  his  general  atti- 
tude toward  this  extreme  representative  of  neo-classicism  is  one  of  marked 
respect. 

Probably  the  most  important  influence  for  regularity  exerted  upon  the 
English  dramatists  was  that  of  Corneille,  whose  critical  utterances  show 
a  long  struggle  between  his  regaroTTor  regularity  and  his  love  of  freedom 
(Ker,  Dryden's  Essays,  I,  xix  ff.).  It  was  this  struggle  that,  in  part  at 
least,  attracted  Dryden,  who  introduced  into  England  many  of  Corneille's 
opinions  and  rules.  By  Dennis  (the  Theatre,  II,  380)  and  his  generation 
it  was  commonly  asserted  that  Corneille  had  introduced  into  France  the 


117 

permanently  adequate  for  judging  letters.  Literature  was  re- 
garded  as  static  rather  than  dynamic:  the  practice  of  the 
ancients  had  brought  letters  to  a  perfection  beyond  which  ad- 
vancement  was,  for  the  later  neo-classicists  at  least,  practically 
impossible,  so  that  the  best  for  which  they  might  hope  was  to 
discover  and  reproduce  something  of  the  charm  of  antiquity. 
It  was  but  natural  that  such  a  conception  of  letters  should 
emphasize  regularity  and  jpnier..and  should  attempt  to  reduce 
literary  theory  and  practice  to  simplicity  and  unity.  Neo- 
classicism  concerned  itself  almost  exclusively  with  poetry  to  the 
neglect  of  prose,  and,  for  the  most  part,  it  further  narrowed  its 
field  to  the  discussion  of  two  types  of  poetry — the  drama  and 
the  epic.  Such  a  limitation  was  due  in  large  measure  to  the 
fact  that  these  two  forms  had  received  particular  attention 
from  the  master  critics  Aristotle  and  Horace.  Furthermore, 
partly  through  the  influence  of  these  critics,  partly  through  the 
influence  of  the  growing  rationalism,8  soon  to  be  discussed,  but 
more  especially  because  of  its  adaptability  to  the  neo-classical 
scheme,  the  plot  or  fable  received  especial  emphasis.9  Again, 
these  neo-classicists,  following  Aristotle's  insistence  upon  each 
type^s  yielding  a  pleasure  proper  to  its  kind,  placed  an  exag- 
gerated stress  upon  conformity  to  the  rules  of  the  special 
species.  With  these  conceptions  went  those  of  a  sustained 
dignity  of  language  and  of  subject  matter,  the  former  pruning 
away  veTbal  ^extravagancies,  and  the  latter  quickening  the  dis- 
taste for  the  commonplace  subjects  of  lowly  life  and  fostering 
in  writers  an  almost  exclusive  attention  to  court  affairs.  The 
conception  of  literature  and  attitude  toward  it  just  outlined 
had  become  prevalent  in  France  about  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  from  that  country  it  passed  to  England. 

rules  of  dramatic  composition,  especially  those  of  the  unities,  and  that 
through  his  influence  they  had  prevailed  with  the  English  playwrights 
(Collier's  Short  View  of  the  Immorality  and  Profaneness  of  the  English 
Stage,  1698,  p.  229;  Filmer's  Further  Defense  of  Dramatic  Poetry,  1698, 
p.  29;  cf.  St.  fivremond's  Works,  1719,  II,  12).  With  both  Corneille's 
doctrines  and  his  plays  Dennis  was  thoroughly  acquainted. 
8  Cf .  Rymer's  Short  View  of  Tragedy,  1693,  p.  4;  p.  19. 

"  The  fable  is  so  essential  to  poesy  that  there  is  no  poesy  without  it." 
Rymer's  translation  of  Rapin's  Reflections  on  Aristotle,  1674,  p.  31.  Cf. 
Spingarn's  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  xviii. 


I 


118 

Its  progress  was  assisted  by  the  Restoration,  which  gave  to 
England  a  court  steeped  in  French  ideas.  It  is  far  from  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  the  English  critics  of  that  day  should 
have  numbered  among  them  many  of  the  nobility,  such  as  Ros- 
common,  Mulgrave,  and  Lansdowne. 

B.  Rationalism 

"  The  French  neo-classicists  made  literature  rational  and  in- 
telligible by  working  it  out  according  to  an  a  priori  scheme 
attributed  to  the  ancients.  The  English  rationalists,  thorough- 
going sensationalists  in  philosophy,  achieved  practically  the 
same  result  by  bringing  art  down  to  the  actualities  of  life."10 
So  far  as  literature  was  concerned,  rationalism  was  essentially 
a  system  that  would  measure  poetry  by  the  yard  stick  of 
prose.11  English  rationalism  is  commonly  held  to  owe  its 
beginnings  largely  to  the  philosophy  of  Hobbes,12  who  con- 
sidered the  poetic  imagination  a  work  of  the  understanding. 
The  earlier  rationalists  maintained  that  sense  was  sufficient 
for  judging  letters,  an  attitude  quite  antagonistic  to  the  neo- 
classical respect  for  the  rules.  Rymer  once  declared  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  classics  is  unnecessary  for  the  critic13 — 
"  Common  sense  suffices ;  "  and  he  added,  "  rarely  have  I  known 
Women-judges  mistaken  on  these  points,  when  they  have 
had  the  patience  to  think."  Dryden,  too,  in  his  varying  allegi- 
ance, sometimes  took  this  rationalistic  position.  Thus  in  dis- 
cussing Ovid's  treatment  of  the  passions,14  he  declared  that  to 
prove  a  certain  point  he  should  "  need  no  other  judges  than  the 
generality  of  [his]  readers ;  for  all  passions  being  inborn  with 
us,  we  are  almost  equally  judges  when  we  are  concerned  in 
the  representation  of  them."  For  the  unchanging  standards 
which  the  neo-classicists  found  in  the  ancients,  the  rationalists 

10  Bohn,  Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of  America, 
XXII,  1 1 6. 

"Hamelius,  Die  Kritik  in  der  Englischen  Literatur  des  I?,  und  18. 
Jahrhunderts,  Leipzig,  1897,  p.  45. 

u  Spingarn,   Critical  Essays  of   the  Seventeenth   Century,   I,   Ixix. 

13  Ibid.,  I,  Ixx.     Here  is  given  an  admirable  account  of  this  movement. 

14  Works',   I,   233.     Quoted  by   Bohn   in  Pub.   Mod.   Lan.   Assoc.  Amer., 
XXII,   1 1 6. 


119 

f  substituted  that  of  sense.  Naturally  they  disapproved  of  ex- 
travagance of  every  sort,  frowned  upon  the  creative  imagina- 
tion, and  looked  with  disfavor  upon  any  free  play  of  the  fancy. 
The  school  of  common  sense  demanded  probability  and  de- 
cqnim  ;15  it  cast  its  influence  against  the  fantastic  figures  of 
speech  current  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  century  and  did 
much  toward  trimming  away  luxuriance  of  style.  Its  influ- 
ence affected  not  only  the  form  but  also  the  content  of 
letters ;  for  it  regarded  man  as  a  reasonable  being,  especially  in 
the  social  relation,  and  permeated  the  life  of  the  time  with  the 
conviction  that  conduct  should  be  sensible,  and  that  literature 
should  represent  life  as  sweetly  reasonable,  gor  Rymer  the  ^ 
mechanical  universe,  the  rationalistic  order  of  things  of  the  phi- 
losophy of  Hobbes  and  Locke  was  to  mark  the  bounds  of 
literature :  "  the  laws  of  poetry  must  approximate  as  closely  asj 
possible  to  the  laws  of  life."16  Such  demands  are  exemplified', 
in  the  contention  for  poetic  justice  and  even  more  forcibly  ' 
by  some  of  Rymer's  rules  for  the  proprieties  of  the  stage. 

The  first  notable  manifestation  of  this  school  in  England 
came  with  the  production  of  the  Rehearsal.  English  rational- 
ism affected  France  and  in  turn  gained  something  from  that 
country,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  con- 
stant reference  is  made  in  French  criticism  to  "  les  bons  sens."17 
Rationalism,  however,  held  so  much  in  common  with  neo-clas- 
sicism,  that  in  the  course  of  time  the  two  were  reconciled  by  a 
theory  in  criticism  allowing  for  both,  which  found  its  best  ex- 
pression in  Boileau18  and  in  Pope.  Each  of  these  essentially  ^  . 
prosaic  systems  was  really  based  upon  a  respect  for  authority, 
the  one  for  the  classics,  the  other  for  good  sense.  But  the  ' 
classics,  it  came  to  be  urged,  were  the  best  examples  of  good  ' 

15 "  Rules  are  to  be  observed  for  avoiding  confusion ;  good  sense  is  to 
be  followed  for  moderating  the  flight  of  a  luxuriant  fancy."  St.  fivre- 
mond's  Works,  1719,  II,.  83. 

18  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  Ixviii. 

17  Ibid.,   I,    Ixix   ff. :    "  Moliere,    in   the    Critique    de   I'tLcole    des   Femmes 
(1663),  first  adopted  reason  as  a  standard  sufficient  in  itself  for  the  critical 
discussion   of  literature." 

18  While  recognizing  Horace  as  Boileau's  master,  Dennis  valued  the  lat- 
ter as  the  exponent  of  reason  as  the  basis  of  the  rules.     E.  g.,  Remarks 
on  the  Rape  of  the  Lock,  pp.  8,  44. 


120 

sense,  and  in  them  reason   found  a  supreme  manifestation. 
Here  was  "nature  methodized"  and  at  its  best. 

C.  The  Moralistic  Tendency 

Another  movement  of  the  times,  the  moralistic,  shows  some 
points  of  agreement  and  some  of  disagreement  with  neo-classi- 
cism  and  rationalism.  We  have  already  noticed  how  good 
sense^ad  j>g_t_|ts_seal  ojLapproval  on  the  moraLlhing  as  the 
reasonable  one;  and  in  so  far  as  the  moralistic  movement  was 
mental,  jrather  Jthan  ^motional,  it  worked  in  practical  accord 
with_j^lionalism.  But  in  matters  going  beyond  pure  reason, 
the  two  clashed  in  a  way  remarkably  emphasized  in  Dennis's 
critical  ideas.  The  relation  of  this  movement  with  neo-classi- 
cism  was,  at  least  superficially,  more  noticeable  than  its  relation 
with  rationalism.  It  is  true  that  one  of  the  great  neo-classical 
authorities,  Aristotle,  had  declared  for  pleasure  rather  than 
for  profit  as  the  chief  end  of  poetry ;  but  he  had  none  the  less 
asserted  that  the  "divine  art"  is  a  more  effective  school  of 
virtue  than  is  history.19  Moreover,  Horace  had  advocated 
what  has  been  called20  the  ethical  conception  of  the  beginnings 
of  poetry,  which  regarded  the  poet  as  "  originally  a  law  giver 
or  divine  prophet."  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the 
neo-classicists  insisted  strongly  upon  morality  as  an  important 
factor  in  literature.  So  strongly  indeed~did  the  moralistic 
tendencies  of  the  time  react  upon  the  adherents  of  the  rules 
that  they  came  to  accept  the  doctrine  that  a  moral  .idea  Jjes_at 
1  the  basis  of  the  plot  of  every  great  masterpiece.  Many  of  the 
neo-classicists  went  so  far  as  to  assert  that  only  a  good  man 
can  be  a  great  poet,  a  belief  that  found  its  first  complete  ex- 
pression with  Strabo21  and  was  afterwards  frequently  echoed 

19 "  For  if  Poetry  be  more  philosophical,  and  more  instructive,  than  His- 
tory, as  Aristotle  is  pleas'd  to  affirm  of  it,  and  no  Man  ever  knew  the; 
Nature  either  of  Poetry,  or  of  History,  or  of  Philosophy,  better  than  he 
did;  why  then  that  Art,  or  rather  that  Artifice,  with  which  a  great  many 
Writers  of  Verses  and  Plays  debauch  and  corrupt  the  People,  is  a  thing 
to  which  Poetry  is  directly  contrary."  Proposal,  prefatory  to  the  Grounds 
of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  1704. 

20  History  of  Literary  Criticism  in  the  Renaissance,  p.   188. 

*Ibid.,  p.  24. 


121 

in  English  literature  from  Jonson22  to  Dryden.23  Among  the 
deferent  efforts  to  unite  these  two  forces  may  be  cited  that 
of  Blackmore,  in  the  preface  to  his  Prince  Arthur,  1696,  where 
he  had  attempted  to  show  how  each  of  the  literary  types  in  its 
own  peculiar  way  conduces  to  morality. 

English  criticism  has  never  been  free  from  this  moralistic 
tendency;  for  Sidney  and  Puttenham  had  shown  its  influence, 
and  Bacon  had  held  that  through  poetry  man  might  partly 
regain  the  happiness  he  lost  at  the  fall.24  Though  Waller  had 
said  frankly  that  pleasure  is  the  end  of  poetry,25  he  had, 
none  the  less,  loved  the  prophets  as  the  masters  of  the  poets. 
Cpwley  and  Davxnant  had  emphasized  the  relation  of  religion 
and  poetry;  and  Hamelius's  statement26  that  we  can  name  by 
the  dozen  the  religious  poets  of  the  century  is  scarcely  an  exag- 
geration. In  this  connection  one  instinctively  recalls  the  high 
ideals  of  the  poet's  consecrated  office  held  by  Milton,  whose  ^ 
practice  and  critical  beliefs  influenced  powerfully  the  course  of  \ 
Dennis's  thought.  Moreover,  the  moralistic  movement  in  Eng- 
land was  strengthened  by  a  similar  current  in  France.  The 
Christian  epic  became  immensely  popular  on  the  continent ;  the 
moral  tone  of  letters  was  raised ;  Rapin  and  Bouhours,  to  cite 
examples  at  random,  were  in  the  church;  and  Le  Bossu  was  a 
religious  recluse.  Before  the  discussion  was  taken  up  in  Eng- 
land, Desmaretes  and  others  had  urged  that  the  Christian  reli- 
gion should  be  made  the  basis  of  poetry,  especially  of  the 
drama.  With  the  reaction  of  the  strong  English  conscience 
against  the  excesses  of  the  Restoration  came  an  inevitable 
protest  against  the  licentiousness  of  one  of  the  most  court- 
dominated  institutions  of  the  time,  the  theatre.  This  protest 
came  from  the  nation  itself  and  was  so  strong  and  vigorous 
that  when  Collier  wrote  against  the  immorality  of  the  stage, 
he  was  attacking  a  moribund  evil.26a  In  the  earlier  years  of  the 

22  Dedication  to   Volpone. 

^Ker,   II,    129.     Cf.    also   the   preface   to    Tyrannic   Love,    Works,   III, 
376. 

24  In  the  pSth  Tatler  Steele  discusses  this  attitude  of  Bacon's. 

25  Muses,  Library  ed.,  p.  225. 

26  Die  Kritik  in  der  Englischen  Literatur,  p.   58. 

x&  Collier's    attack   was   partly   the   result   of   the    continued  war   waged    •, 
against  public   immorality  by  the  Societies   for  Reformation   of   Manners, 


122 

eighteenth  century  this  moralistic  tendency  manifested  itself 
in  literature  in  many  ways :  it  stamped  the  chief  critical  writ- 
ings of  Dennis;  it  characterized  the  consciously  ethical  dramas 
.    of  such  writers  as  Rowe  and  Steele;  it  dominated  the  writings 
'    of  Dissenters  like  Dr.  Watts  and  Mrs.  Rowe ;  and  most  impor- 
tant of  all  perhaps,  it  permeated  the  tone  of  the  Spectator.™ 

D.  The  Patriotic  Tendency 

Another  influence  upon  English  literature  at  this  time  was 
the  patriotic,  which  emphasized  the  relation  of  letters  with  the 
national  life  and  politics  and  magnified  the  importance  of  the 
works  of  native  writers.  %Jn  so  far  as  this  trend  furthered  the 
assertion  of  national  characteristics  as  opposed  to  the  respect 
for  authority,  it  may  be  regarded  as  allied  to  romanticism.^  In 
so  far  as  it  emphasized  the  importance  of  environment  in  the 
production  of  letters,  it  is  allied  with  the  tendency  represented 
by  the  school  of  taste.  Indeed  it  might  be  treated  as  one  of  the 
characteristics  of  that  school  soon  to  be  considered,  but  its  im- 
portance in  connection  with  Dennis's  critical  beliefs  entitles  it  to 
a  separate  discussion.  ^The  Renaissance  had  aroused  in  the 
people  of  western  Europe  a  realization  of  national  existence  and 
had  quickened  their  patriotism.)  In  France,  however,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Pleiade  had  been  thrown  against  the  old  French 
traditions  and  in  favor  of  those  of  the  classics,  and  this  influ- 
ence was  potent  in  divorcing  literature  from  the  national  life. 

which  were  active  throughout  England  and  Ireland  during  the  reign  of 
William  and  Mary,  and  in  support  of  which  a  large  body  of  literature  was 
issued  under  the  direction  of  men  like  the  Reverend  Doctors  Woodward  and 
Bray.  These  tracts  by  Woodward  and  others  reached  sections  of  the  public 
which  Addison  and  Steele,  for  example,  could  not  touch. 

27  In  praise  of  this  aspect  of  the  Spectator  Sir  Richard  Blackmore  said : 
"  It  was  with  great  Pleasure  and  Satisfaction  that  Men,  who  wish'd  well 

.  of  their  Country  and  Religion,  saw  the  People  delighted  with  Papers 
which  lately  came  abroad  as  daily  Entertainment ;  in  which  rich  Genius 
and  Poetical  Talents  were  employ'd  in  their  proper  Province,  that  is,  to 

)  recommend  Virtue  and  regujar  Ljif£,  and  discourage  and  discountenance 
the  Follies,  Faults,  and  Vices  of  the  Age;  .  .  .  Nor  was  it  without  good 
Effect,  for  the  People  in  some  measure  recover' d  their  true  Relish,  and 

j  discern'd  the  Benefit  and  Moral  Advantages  as  well  as  the  Beauties  of 
these  daily  Pieces,  and  began  to  have  profane  and  immodest  Writings  in 
Contempt."  Essays,  1717,  II,  268. 


123 

Though  the  example  of  the  French  was  not  without  its  effect 
upon  England,  our  native  writers  of  the  last  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  were  repeatedly  emphasizing  the  dependence  of 
letters  upon  the  political  well  being  of  the  nation.  vFor 
example,  Milton  had  reasserted  the  old  classical  idea  of  the 
relation  of  government  and  creative  literature,28  and  this  idea 
was  repeated  in  the  pages  of  Dennis  and  Shaftsbury.29)?  In 
1668  Dryden  had  contended  for  the  English  as  opposed  to  the 
French,  and  for  the  moderns  against  the  ancients,  and  had 
based  his  arguments  partly  upon  patriotic  grounds.30  Late  in 
life  he  spoke  thus  in  the  preface  to  the  Fables: 

"  as  I  am,  and  always  have  been,  studious  to  promote  the  honour  of  my 
native  country,  so  I  am  resolved  to  put  their  merits  to  the  trial,  by  turn- 
ing some  of  the  Canterbury  Tales  into  our  language,  as  it  is  now  re- 
fined ;  " 

Roscommon  boasted31  of  the  greater  energy,  succinctness, 
and  wit  of  his  own  nation;  and  Temple  emphasized32  the 
superior  genius  of  the  English.  The  gradual  recognition  of 
Milton  and  the  renewed  interest  in  Spenser  were,  in  a  measure 
at  least,  due  to  the  growing  feeling  that  these  writers  were  an 
honor  to  the  country;  and  this  same  pride  unquestionably 
fostered  the  growth  of  the  popularity  of  the  ballads,  which 
were  repugnant  alike  to  the  neo-classicist  and  to  the  rationalist. 

R  The  School  of  Taste 

The  last  of  these  influences  to  be  considered  is  that  of  the 
school  of  taste,  the  principal  characteristics  of  which  may  be 
briefly  summarized.  Perhaps  it  might  better  be  called  a 
tendency  than  a  school,  for  its  chief  exponents  were  generally 
allied  with  other  movements.33  This  school  (if  we  call  it 

28  Prose  Works,   ed.   St.  John,   I,   214. 

29  Works,  1900,  I,  143,  155. 

80  Cf.  the  preface  to  All  for  Love:  "  For  my  part  I  desire  to  be  tried  by 
the  laws  of  my  own  country ;  for  it  seems  unjust  to  me  that  the  French 
should  prescribe  till  they  have  conquered." 

31  Essay  on  Translated   Verse,  1.   50. 

•fj  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  xciv. 

**For  a  discussion  of  the  school  of  taste  see  Spingarn's  Critical  Essays 
of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  Ixxxiii  ff.,  on  which  the  present  resume  is 
very  largely  based? 


124 

such)  insisted  upon  viewing  literature  as  progressive  and 
changing  and  as  something  to  be  considered  in  its  relations 
with  the  human  mind.  Again,  it  came  to  regard  the  function 
of  the  critic  as  appreciative  rather  than  depreciative,  and  also  to 
\  demand  that  letters  should  be  judged  by  the  standards  of  taste, 
which  were  quite  apart  from  those  of  reason. 

The  term  taste  had  come  into  vogue  at  about  the  same  time 
in  both  France  and  England.  Howard,  in  the  preface  to  the 
Great  Favourite,  1668,  declared  that  "taste  is  the  only  thing 
that  can  govern  the  composition  of  the  drama;"  and  though 
Dryden  then  ridiculed  the  word,34  he  afterwards  came  to 
employ  it  freely  and  to  adopt  some  of  the  views  of  the  school.35 
In  France  Mere  and  Bouhours,  St.  fivremond  and  La  Bruyere 
stand  as  the  chief  exponents  of  taste,  though  the  beliefs  of  all 
of  these  were  related  with  other  and  different  schools.36 

\This  school  or  tendency  of  taste  is  exemplified  in  France  in 
Mere's  insistence  upon  the  supremacy  of  the  heart  over  the 
mind  in  the  judgment  of  letters.^)  This  contrast  of  heart  and 
head  became  a  familiar  one  among  the  critics  of  the  time; 
Bouhours,  for  example,  who  had  attributed  to  Vqiture  tms 
distinction  between  "  esprit  et  coeur,"  assigned  to  each  an  equal 
place.37  With  Mere  he  recognized  in  letters  a  grace  beyond 
the  power  of  rule  and  reason.  Again,  the  current  respect  for 
the  neo-classical  rules  had  accustomed  critics  to  noticing  the 
faults  rather  than  the  merits  of  an  author.  Mn  their  protest 
against  such  an  attitude  toward  letters  the  school  of  taste  was 
stimulated  by  the  translation  and  popularization  by  Boileau  in 
1674  of  Longinus's  treatise  On  the  Sublime,  which  emphasized 
the  importance  of  discovering  the  beauties  rather  than  the 
blemishes  of  a  book.38  Xne  beauty-blemish  theory  as  it  has 

34  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  xcvii. 

85  Ibid.,   I,   cii. 

36  "  Some  of  them,  like  Mere  and  Bouhours,  represent  or  inherit  the  tra- 
ditions  of  the  Precieuses,  more  or  less  purified  by  classical  culture  and 
tempered  by  good  sense;  others,  like  Saint-£vremond,  renew  the  spirit  of 
the  earlier  and  freer  stages  of  classicism ;  still  others,  like  La  Bruyere, 
seem  the  natural  product  of  the  classical  spirit  itself."  Ibid.,  I,  xciv. 

87  Ibid.,  I,  xcvii. 

88  This   idea   became   an   especially   favorite    one   with   Addison   and   his 
friends. 


125 

been  called,  which  gained  a  wide  popular  acceptance  early  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  aided  greatly  in  establishing  a  finer  and 
more  appreciative  criticism  of  letters. 

Again,  the  current  interest  in  science  and  history  assisted  in 
strengthening  the  school  of  taste.  In  England  the  Baconian 
traditions  helped  vitalize  and  increase  the  common  interest  in 
science  and  other  forms  of  research,  which  probably  surpassed 
that  of  any  other  country.  The  virtuosi,  such  as  Sir  William 
Temple,  with  their  manifold  and  concurrent  interests  in 
science,  art,  antiquarianism,  letters,  and  criticism,  also  did 
much  to  foster  the  conception  that  literature  is  a  growth,  and 
that  it  bears  an  intimate  relation  with  the  conditions  under 
which  it  is  produced.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the 
school  of  taste,  both  in  France  and  in  England,  should  have 
revived  the  idea  of  the  influence  of  climate  and  race  upon 
letters,  and  that  it  should  have  begun  to  study  the  relations  of 
the  writer,  the  piece  of  literature,  and  the  reader. 

This  tendency  or  school  at  first  emphasized39  taste  as  a 
mental  perception  or  sentiment  quite  independent  of  reason; 
but  after  Hobbes  and  Howard  and  St.  fivremond,  the  prevail- 
ing rationalism  of  the  times  encroached  upon  this  conception 
till  with  La  Bruyere  it  had  come  to  conform  to  a  standard  of 
its  own — the  norm  of  taste,  which  was  recognized  as  quite 
distinct  from  the  rules  of  the  neo-classicists.40  Thus  La 
Bruyere  believed  :41 

"  There  is  a  point  of  perfection  in  art,  as  of  excellence  or  maturity  in 
nature.  He  who  is  sensible  of  it  and  loves  it  has  a  perfect  taste ;  he  who 
is  not  sensible  of  it  and  loves  this  or  that  else  on  either  side  of  it  has  a 
faulty  taste.  There  is  then  a  good  and  a  bad  taste,  and  men  dispute 
about  taste  not  without  reason." 

Shaftsbury  stands  as  one  of  the  greatest  English  exponents  of 
this  doctrine  of  taste;  and  his  words  may  be  cited  as  illustra- 
tive of  the  position  of  the  later  members  of  this  school,  which 
was  not  far  from  that  of  the  rationalists :  "  I  like !  I  fancy !  I 

89  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,   I,   xcvii. 

40  This  attempt  to  allow  for  a  grace  beyond  the  reach  of  the  rules  pro- 
voked  the   neo-classicists   to    such    attacks   as   those   of   Dacier   in   his   re- 
marks on  Horace  and  on  Aristotle. 

41  Quoted  in  the  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  xcviii. 


126 

admire!  How?  By  accident,  or  as  I  please?  No.  But  1 
learn  to  fancy,  to  admire,  to  be  pleased,  as  the  subjects  them- 
selves are  deserving,  and  can  bear  me  out."42 

These  different  tendencies  just  outlined  manifest  each  with 
its  own  peculiar  characteristics  many  traits  of  which  they  par- 
take more  or  less  in  common;  and  in  their  development 
through  the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  they  show  the 
effects  of  the  attempts  to  reconcile  them.  The  great  crux  of 
the  whole  matter  is  the  inevitable  clash  which  has  come  in  all 
ages  between  authority  and  individualism.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  criticism  was  almost  completely  domi- 
nated by  authority,  with  its  insistence  upon  regularity. 

The  influence  of  nearly  all  these  different  currents  is  well 
illustrated  in  the  critical  attitude  of  Dennis's  friend  and 
master  Dryden,43  He  never  fully  submitted  to  the  neo- 
classical rules,  nor  on  the  other  hand  did  he  ever  completely 
discard  them.  In  the  period  when  he  was  under  the  influence 
of  Rymer  he  could  write,44  "  I  have  endeavored  in  this  play  to 
follow  the  practice  of  the  Ancients  who  are  .  .  .  and  ought  to 
be  our  Masters."  But  he  could  also  assert  in  that  same 
preface  that  the  models  of  the  antique  drama  "are  too  little 
for  the  English  tragedy ; "  and  he  elsewhere  contended  that  if 
Aristotle  had  been  familiar  with  the  modern  drama,  he  would 
have  changed  his  laws.  In  his  later  years  Dryden  seems  to 
have  been  markedly  influenced  by  the  doctrines  of  Le  Bossu 
and  to  have  accepted  the  French  critic's  contention  that  the  poet 
must  select  his  moral  and  upon  this  build  his  fable  or  plot.45 
Indeed  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Dryden's  critical  views 
expressed  during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  show  a  greater 
respect  for  the  rules  than  do  his  utterances  of  any  of  his  earlier 
decades.  But  his  strong  national  spirit  and  critical  acumen 
prevented  his  yielding  any  servile  submission  to  French 

**  Works,   1900,   I,  218. 

43 "  In  ihrer  Mannigfaltigkeit  bilden  Drydens  Vorreden  eine  formliche 
Encyklopadie  aller  Meinungen  seiner  Zeit,  sodass  er  in  der  Geschichte  der 
Kritik  .  .  .  oft  als  sein  eigener  Gegner  erscheinen  muss."  Hamelius,  Die 
Kritik,  p.  66. 

44  Preface  to  All  for  Love. 

4BKer,    I,    213. 


127 

authority.  While  he  was  translating  Vergil  and  Juvenal  for 
his  countrymen,  he  was  also  making  accessible  to  them  the 
writings  of  their  own  Chaucer.  He  bestowed  generous  praise 
upon  Shakspere  and  early  commended  Milton.  Moreover,  he 
showed  himself  prompt  to  defend  the  English  drama  against 
that  of  the  ancients,46  and  he  must  be  classed  as  fighting  for  the 
moderns.  At  times  his  attitude  is  decidedly  that  of  the 
rationalist,  as  when  he  declares47  that  "  the  rules  are  founded 
on  good  sense  and  sound  reason,"  rather  than  on  authority,  a 
view  which  Dennis  expressed  later  in  much  the  same 
terms.48  Through  the  last  years  of  Dryden's  life  the  relations 
between  him  and  Dennis,  as  has  been  shown,  were  especially 
intimate.  One  is  impressed,  indeed,  by  the  closeness  with 
which  Dennis's  critical  views  of  this  last  decade  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  reflect  practically  all  the  important  opinions  ex- 
pressed by  Dryden.  Each  of  them  has  recorded  a  warm 
admiration  of  Le  Bossu  and  his  treatment  of  the  epic;  each 
resented  the  efforts  of  Racine  and  Rymer  to  introduce  the 
chorus  into  the  modern  drama ;  each  maintained  the  superiority 
of  the  English  poets  and  dramatists  to  the  French;  both  were 
interested  in  developing  the  English  Pindaric.  Again,  Dry- 
den's  discussion  of  the  possibility  of  introducing  Christian 
divinities  or  supernatural  agencies  into  modern  poetry  prob- 
ably did  much  to  direct  our  critic's  theorizing  regarding  the  re- 
lations of  religion  and  poetry.  Furthermore,  after  1700  Dennis 
championed  his  master's  theory  and  practice  against  the  ideas 
of  Pope  and  his  followers,  as  is  witnessed  by  his  strong  letter 
to  Tonson,  On  the  Conspiracy  against  the  Reputation  of  Mr. 
Dryden,49  and  by  his  defense  of  his  master's  freedom  in  coin- 
ing words.50 

*•  Ker,  I,  Ixvi. 
"Ibid.,   I,    228. 

48  Impartial  Critick  in  Spingarn's  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury, III,   194. 

49  Original  Letters  p.  289  ff. 

50  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  16. 


128 

III 
ON  IMITATION  AND  INVENTION 

The  critical  questions  with  which  Dennis  and  his  age  were 
chiefly  concerned  arose  in  the  main  from  the  clash  qf  the 
various  tendencies  just  discussed.  What  is  the  nature  of 
poetic  invention  and  imitation?  From  whence  should  the 
writer  and  critic  derive  their  standards, — from  authority  ?  from 
reason?  from  inspiration?  from  taste?  Are  the  classical 
authors  greater  than  the  moderns  ?  Should  the  poet  make  use 
of  Christian  beliefs,  or  should  he  cling  to  the  gods  of  antiquity? 
Are  the  rules  applicable  to  all  times,  or  must  they  be  modified 
to  meet  changing  conditions  ?  What  are  the  characteristics  of 
each  type  of  letters,  and  how  far  is  the  writer  bound  to  observe 
them?  What  should  be  the  object  of  poetry — to  please  or  to 
instruct?  What  should  be  the  relation  in  poetical  composition 
of  emotion  and  reason?  How  Dennis  proceeded  to  answer 
these  questions,  what  authorities  he  accepted  in  his  attempts, 
how  far  his  answers  agreed  with  those  of  his  contemporaries, 
how  they  changed  with  the  years,  and  what  effect  they  had 
upon  others,  these  are  some  of  the  questions  that  we  must  now 
attempt  to  answer. 

Dennis's  cojnception^  pf  art,  with  which  we  may  well  begin, 
was  one  not  uncommon  in  his  times.  The  Platonic  element  in- 
troduced into  Renaissance  criticism1  had  emphasized  the  con- 
ception of  the  poet  as  one  who  brushes  aside  the  hard  work-a- 
day  world  and  shapes  in  its  place  a  world  of  beauty.  This 
conception  found  expression  in  Sidney  and  was  given  a  moral 
turn  by  Bacon  in  his  Advancement  of  Learning.2  Milton  took 
up  the  same  idea,  declaring  that  "The  end  of  Learning  is  to 
repair  the  Ruin  of  our  first  Parents  by  regaining  to  know  God 
aright;"3  and  he  went  on  to  show  how  poetry  may  be  made 
efficacious  to  that  end.  Echoing  Milton,  Dennis  states*  that 
"  the  great  Design  of  the  Arts  is  to  restore  the  decays  that  hap- 
pened to  human  Nature  by  the  fall ; "  and  he  placed  this  idea 

1  History  of  Literary  Criticism  in  the  Renaissance,  p.   157. 

2  Works,  1863,  IV,  204-206. 

3  Of  Education,   to  Mr.  Samuel  Hartlib. 

*  Works,  II,  418.     Steele  voices  the  same  idea  in  the  Tatler. 


129 

at  the  foundation  of  his  theory  for  the  advancement  of  poetry6 
and  maintained  it  throughout  his  whole  career.6 

Dennis  accepted  Cicero's  statement  of  the  interdependence 
and  relation  of  the  arts;7  and  he  paraphrased,  in  his  dedica- 
tion to  the  Poems  in  Burlesque  Horace's  words8  about  painting 
as  a  kind  of  poetry.  To  the  other  arts  he  paid  little  attention, 
save  as  they  bore  upon  literature  and  especially  upon  poetry, 
for  in  his  general  indifference  to  any  consideration  of  the  prose 
forms  of  letters,  he  was  a  thorough  neo-classicist.  Poetry,  he 
maintained,9  is  the  noblest  of  the  arts,  for  it  "  makes  provision 
at  the  same  time  for  the  satisfaction  of  all  the  Faculties,  the 
Reason,  the  Passions,  the  Senses."  In  so  much  as  he  con- 
sidered that  music  did  not  meet  the  demands  of  reason,  Dennis, 
in  common  with  other  critics  of  his  day,  placed  it  far  below 
poetry;  and  he  asserted10  that  to  judge  it  "  requires  only  a  fine 
Ear,  which  the  Footman  often  has  a  great  deal  finer  than  his 
Master." 

With  regard  to  the  matter  of  imitation,  a  doctrine  which 
lies  at  the  basis  of  all  critical  theorizing,  Dennis  was  in  agree- 
ment with  many  of  the  prevalent  views  of  his  time.  In  France 
the  Pleiade  had  substituted  for  the  imitation  of  nature  that  of 
the  classics ;  and  in  England  Jonson  had  taken  the  position  of 
advising  young  writers  to  cho^e  an  author  and  follow  him  till 
the  copy  might  be  mistaken  for  the  principal.11  These  views 
were  more  or  less  strongly  advocated  by  critics  from  Vossius12 
to  Boileau13  and  found  a  most  radical  exponent  in  Dacier.14 
Though  this  attitude  met  with  opposition,  especially  from  such 
critics  as  St.  fivremond,15  it  was  commonly  accepted  when 
Dennis  began  his  career.  The  ideas  of  the  neo-classicists 

5  Advancement   and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.    147. 

6  Original  Letters,  p.   169,  p.  418. 

7  Preface  to  the  Remarks  on   the  Conscious  Lovers. 

8  Ars  Poetica,   1.   361. 

9  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.  168. 

10  Cf.  Jonson's  Discoveries,  Boston,   1892,  p.  49. 
"•Ibid.,   p.    77. 

13  Opera,  Amsterdam,   1687,  III,  8,   44. 

18  Literary    Criticism   in    the   Renaissance,   p.    135. 

14  Preface  to   Oeuvres  du  Horace,  Amsterdam,    1735,   I,   53. 

15  Works,   London,    1719,   II,   272. 


130 

had,  however,  been  perverted  from  Aristotle's  conception  of 
imitation  as  a  representation  of  actual  life.  That  school  pro- 
ceeded to  emphasize  and  amplify  his  statement  that  poetry 
should  deal  with  the  probable  rather  than  the  actual  and  made 
it  one  of  their  commandments.  Poetry,  which  is  an  expression 
of  the  universal,  said  Rapin,16  is  superior  to  history,  which 
shows  the  particular;  and  Rymer,  holding  the  same  view,  in 
condemning  King  and  No  King  declared17  that  the  lack  of 
probability  in  that  play  lowered  its  value,  so  that  instead  of 
being  superior  to  history,  it  was  inferior  to  it.  The  neo-classi- 
cists  also  maintained  that  imitation  should  be  according  to  the 
different  types  which  Aristotle  had  outlined  in  the  Rhetoric,18 
and  which  Horace  had  taken  up  in  the  Ars  Poetic  a.  This  idea, 
of  course,  also  tended  toward  making  poetry  universal  rather 
than  particular.  The  neo-classicists  joined  these  conceptions 
and  other  dicta  of  Aristotle,  such  as  the  forming  of  the  plot 
before  the  bestowing  of  names,  with  the  moralistic  conception 
of  literature  into  a  scheme  that  became  generally  recognized 
as  proper  and  regular  for  constructing  a  play  or  an  heroic 
poem.  The  writer  should  select  a  moral  idea  and  exemplify  it 
in  a  fable  or  plot,  where  the  characters  should  represent  uni- 
versal types,  even  though  they  bore  particular  names.  The 
neo-classicists  urged  that  the  great  works  of  antiquity  had  been 
formed  in  this  manner,  so  that  Achilles,  for  example,  was  a 
universal  type  with  certain  characteristics.  Against  the  ac- 
ceptance of  such  beliefs,  however,  there  was  much  protest :  the 
earlier  rationalists  combatted  them;  and  Dryden  uttered  his 
dissent.  In  his  Remarks  upon  Fresnoy's  Art  of  Painting, 
however,  he  expressed  the  conventional  idea  that  the  ancients 
had  studied  and  knew  nature,  and  that  the  moderns  might  best 
succeed  by  imitating  them. 

Dennis's  earlier  views  of  imitation  were  in  general  accord 
with  these  current  neo-classical  conceptions.  Whoever  invents 

16Kennet,   Whole  Critical  Works  of  Mons.  Rapin,  1731,  I,  Ch.  XXIV. 

17  Tragedies  of  the  Last  Age,  Consider' d  and  Examin'd  by  the  Practice 
of  the  Ancients,  and  by  the  Common  Sense  of  all  Ages,  London,  1678,  p< 
59. 

"Weldon,  The  Rhetoric  of  Aristotle.  Translated  with  an  Analysis  and 
Critical  Notes,  London,  1886,  p.  181. 

f 


131 

an  action,  he  maintained,19  invents  a  fable.  He  then  went  on 
to  affirm  that  it  is  the  poet's  business  in  representing  characters 
to  maintain  them  well,  because  nature  is  uniform;  and  he 
added  that  to  follow  nature  is  to  follow  the  rules.20  Historic 
examples  are  too  particular  to  instruct,  so  the  poet  must  have 
recourse  to  the  more  general  ones  of  fiction.21  In  his  later 
years  Dennis  maintained  most  of  these  views  with  a  fair  con- 
sistency ;  for  example,  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  these  ideas 
form  the  basis  of  his  objections  to  plays  written  for  special 
actors.  He  praised  Vergil  as  deviating  from  historical  truth 
to  gain  greater  beauties  for  the  Aeneid,  though  he  condemned 
Shakspere's  Roman  plays  as  sinning  against  history  and  was 
equally  severe  with  Addison's  Cato.  The  composition  of 
tragedy,  he  frequently  asserted,  demands  a  less  faithful  imita- 
tion than  does  that  of  comedy,  for  tragedy  makes  lighter 
demands  upon  probability  and  finds  the  wonderful  more  toler- 
able. To  the  Aristotelian  view  of  the  world  of  imitation  as 
pleasing  more  than  the  actual  world,  which  also  found  ex- 
pression in  Dryden22  and  elsewhere,  Dennis  gave  a  willing 
assent. 

All  of  these  beliefs  were,  for  the  most  part,  commonplaces 
in  the  critical  thought  of  the  time  and  found  expression  in  the 
writings  of  many  contemporary  critics  both  French  and  Eng- 
lish.    But  Dennis  went  beyond  the  common  thought  of  his  \ 
time  by  insisting  in  some  of  his  writings  that  poetry  should    } 
be  considered  and  studied  as  the  product  of  a  creative  mind.  / 
Like  Addison  he  accepted  in  the  main  the  psychology  enunci- 
ated by  Hobbes,  and  he  attempted  to  apply  it  in  an  explanation 
of  the  process  of  literary  creation  many  years  before  Addison 
took  up  the  discussion  of  the  imagination.     Hobbes  had  de- 
fined23 imagination  as  "  conception  remaining  and  little  by  little 
decaying  from  and  after  the  act  of  sense  "  and  had  maintained24 
that  images  are  either  simple  or  compound,  and  that  "  the  brain 

19  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  p.  14. 

20  Ibid.,    1 06. 

21  Ibid.,  p.   48. 
^Ker,   II,   119. 

*  Works,    1740,   IV,   9. 
"Ibid.,    Ill,    6. 


132 

or  spirit  being  stirred  by  divers  objects  composeth  an  imagina- 
tion of  divers  conceptions  that  appear  single  to  the  sense." 
The  joy  of  composition  comes  from  the  sudden  exaltation  or 
pride  of  the  soul  at  its  own  power.25  He  further  urged  that 
"all  advancement  cometh  from  the  imagination"  "guided  by 
the  precepts  of  true  philosophy."  The  suspicion  of  the  im- 
agination which  frequently  cropped  out  in  his  work  found 
numerous  restatements  in  this  age  of  growing  rationalism,  of 
which  one  of  the  assertions  of  Dryden  may  be  taken  as 
typical  :26  "  Imagination  in  a  poet  is  a  faculty  so  wild  and  law- 
less, that  like  a  high  ranging  spaniel,  it  must  have  clogs  tied 
to  it,  lest  it  outrun  the  judgment."  Just  what  relation  this 
ranging  of  the  imagination  should  bear  to  the  production  of 
literature,  the  connection  between  the  furor  poeticus  and  reason, 
was  a  problem  that  began  to  impress  itself  upon  the  age.  The 
recognition  of  the  poetic  frenzy,  of  the  demands  of  the  school 
of  taste  for  a  grace  beyond  art,  and  of  the  insistence  of  the 
rationalists  upon  exactness,  all  find  expression  in  such  theoriz- 
ing about  invention  as  that  by  Temple:27 

"  This  was  the  celestial  fire  [t.  e.,  a  heat  of  the  brain]  which  gave  such 
a  pleasing  motion  or  agitation  to  the  minds  of  those  men  that  have  been 
so  much  admired  in  the  world,  that  raised  such  infinite  images  of  things 
agreeable  to  mankind — From  this  arises  the  elevation  of  genius  which 
can  never  be  produced  by  any  art  or  study,  by  pains  or  by  industry, 
which  can  not  be  taught  by  precepts  or  examples.  .  .  .  But  though  inven- 
tion is  the  mother  of  poetry,  yet  the  child  .  .  .  must  be  nourished  with 
care,  clothed  with  exactness  and  elegance,  educated  with  industry,  in- 
structed with  art,  improved  by  application,  corrected  with  severity,  and 
accomplished  with  labours  and  time." 

In  his  attempts  to  explain  "  the  celestial  fire  of  the  writer,"28 
Dennis  took  as  his  starting  point  Hobbes's  doctrine  of  the 
exaltation  of  spirit  and  declared29  that  the  elevation  of  the 

20  Cf.  Jonson's  Discoveries,  Boston,  1892,  p.  55  :  "  For  all  we  do  invent 
doth  please  us  in  the  conception  of  birth,  else  we  would  never  set  it 
down." 

*  Works,  IV,  450. 

27  Works,   London,    1759,   III,  401. 

28  Cf.    Blackmore's    preface    to    Prince    Arthur. 

29  Preface  to  the  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  which  discusses  the  matter 
at  length. 


133 

writer,  which  had  formerly  been  considered  a  thing  divine,  was 
either  a  very  common  passion  or  a  "  complication  of  Common 
Passions."  Happiness  or  felicity  in  composition,  he  main- 
tained, affects  the  writer  much  as  do  any  of  the  common 
joys  of  life:  any  piece  of  fortune  produces  first  surprise,  then 
joy,  then  an  elevation  or  an  exaltation  of  mind;  and  if  the 
good  fortune  comes  unexpectedly,  it  brings  us  astonishment 
and  amazement  at  our  own  happiness.  In  literary  composi- 
tion the  soul  is  exalted  through  the  conception  of  a  hint  which 
it  regards  as  peculiarly  its  own;  and  if  the  hint  be  great  and 
elevated,  it  is  "amazed  with  the  unexpected  view  of  its  own 
surpassing  power."  This  transport  of  the  soul  gives  birth  to 
an  elevation  of  the  expression,  for  all  emotions,  even  such  con- 
trary ones  as  love  and  rage,  in  excess  are  furious.  "  Now  it 
is  certain  that  greatness  of  the  mind  is  nothing  but  pride  well 
regulated.  Now  as  joy  causes  fury,  and  pride  elevation,  so 
astonishment  gives  vehemence  to  expression."  "  Genius,"  he 
defined  as  "the  expression  of  a  furious  joy  caused  by  the 
conception  of  an  extraordinary  hint;"30  and  he  declared  that 
the  enthusiasm  manifested  in  the  highest  forms  of  poetry  con- 
sists of  these  three  passions — joy,  pride,  and  astonishment, 
either  simple  or  complicated,  arising  from  such  thoughts  as 
naturally  carry  these  emotions  with  them.31  Like  Hobbes, 
Dennis  distinguished  vivid  thoughts  by  calling  them  images, 
and  he  also  maintained  that  these  are  best  supplied  by  religious 
subjects.32  All  invention,  he  went  on  to  affirm  with  Hobbes,33 
is  the  result  of  the  confederated  powers  of  the  memory, 
imagination,  and  judgment.  "For  memory,"  he  declared, 
"may  justly  be  compared  to  the  Dog  that  beats  the  Field,  or 
the  Wood,  and  that  startles  up  the  Game;  Imagination  is  the 
Falcon  that  clips  it  upon  its  Pinions  after  it;  and  Judgment  is 
the  Falconer  who  directs  the  flight  and  governs  the  whole." 

Dennis's  beliefs  regarding  the  inventive  imagination  were  in 
general  agreement  with  his  doctrines  of  the  emotions  and  might 
be  characterized  as  a  part  of  them.  Even  as  early  as  the 

81  Preface  to  the  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur. 

81  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.   32. 

**  Works,  II,  425. 

33  Remarks  upon  the  Dunciad,  p.  22. 


134 

preface  to  his  Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose,  written  in  1692, 
Dennis's  theorizing  exhibits  the  conflict  between  the  demands 
of  emotion  and  those  of  regularity,  which  he  once  attempted  to 
adjust  by  stating  that  while  emotion  is  to  be  allowed  its  free 
play,  its  manifestations  will  be  found  to  accord  with  reason. 
To  his  age  Dennis  stood  as  the  champion  of  emotion  as  the 
basis  of  poetry,  as  an  advocate  of  the  exaltation  and  inspira- 
tion of  the  poet  that  so  ill  accorded  with  the  prevailing  spirit 
of  the  times  that  he  was  derisively  dubbed  "  Sir  Lp_ngmus." 
Of  this  Greek  writer  Dennis  was  a  student;  and  his  ideas  re- 
garding the  sublime  are  in  part  echoes  from  On  the  Sublime, 
viewed,  however,  through  the  commentaries  of  Boileau. 

That  the  poet  is  inspired  had  been  taught  by  Platonism,  re- 
enforced  by  Caecilius,  Longinus,  and  Horace,  reaffirmed  for 
Renaissance  criticism  by  the  Pleiade,34  and  accorded  a  conven- 
tional acceptance  by  the  English  writers  of  the  seventeenth 
century.35  On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  must  also  be  re- 
membered that  for  the  age  last  mentioned  enthusiasm  conveyed 
the  idea  of  fanaticism,  and  that  madness  was  regarded  as 
simply  a  surplus  of  emotion.36  Furthermore,  the  rationalistic 
spirit  of  the  times  was,  of  course,  opposed  to  granting  much 
importance  to  emotion  in  poetry;  and  this  opposition  found 
expression  in  such  declarations  as  that  of  Rapin  :37 

"  'tis  in  no  wise  true,  that  most  believe,  that  some  little  mixture  of  mad- 
ness goes  to  make  up  the  character  of  the  Poet;  for  though  his  discourse 
ought  in  a  manner  to  resemble  that  of  one  inspir'd:  yet  his  mind  must 
always  be  serene  that  he  may  discern  when  to  let  his  muse  run  mad,  and 
when  to  govern  his  transports." 

Dryden,  however,  was  working  his  way  toward  a  freer 
critical  conception.  In  the  preface  to  Aureng-Zebe,  in  1675, 
he  first  drew  upon  Longinus,  whom  he  declared  next  to  Aris- 
totle the  greatest  critic  among  the  Greeks;  and  his  discussion 
of  emotion  as  the  basis  of  poetry38  shows  him  well  in  advance 

84  Literary  Criticism  in  the  Renaissance,  p.   1 74. 

36  See  for  examples  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  II,  286, 
308. 

^Hobbes's   Works,   1740,   III,   64. 

37  Rymer's  translation  of   Rapin's  Reflections  on  Aristotle,   1674,  P«   6. 

38  Works,   XI,    295. 


135 

of  his  time.  It  seems  probable,  however,  that  Dennis  derived 
from  Milton's  theory  and  practice,  rather  than  from  Dryden, 
his  insistence  upon  emotion  as  the  basic  element  of  poetry. 
Milton  maintained  that  poetry  is  the  sublime  art,39  and  he  rep- 
resented the  poet  as  soaring  in  the  high  region  of  his  fancies, 
with  his  garland  and  with  his  singing  robes  about  him.  Fur- 
thermore, he  handed  on  these  ideas  to  his  nephew  Edward 
Phillips,  who  repeated40  them  and  emphasized  them. 

By  1692,  if  not  earlier,  Dennis  was  attracted  to  the  writings 
of  Milton  and  consequently  to  a  fuller  consideration  of  the 
emotional  element  in  poetry.  It  is  difficult  to  state  whether 
his  interest  in  Pindarics  arose  from  this  study ;  but  it  is  quite 
clear41  that  he  associated  the  sublimity  of  Milton  with  the 
manner  of  Pindar,  and  that  he  strove  in  practice  to  combine 
them.  His  efforts  met  with  a  certain  success,  for,  as  we  have 
noticed,  he  gained  the  praise  of  Dryden  and  had  come  by  1697 
to  be  regarded  as  the  assertor  of  poetic  rage.42  Upon  this  emo- 
tional element  he  based  his  conception  of  poetry,  which  he 
defined43  as  "  an  imitation  of  nature  by  a  pathetic  and  numer- 
ous speech."  "  Passion,"  he  continued,  "  is  the  character- 
istical  mark  of  poetry  and  consequently  must  be  every  where." 
It  is  impossible,  he  believed,  that  the  greatest  or  enthusiastic 
passion  should  always  be  present  in  a  poem,  but  there  should 
be  the  lesser  emotion  or  ordinary  passion  which  is  clearly  com- 
prehended by  the  reader.  In  explaining  the  difference  be- 
tween enthusiastic  and  ordinary  passion  Dennis  insisted  upon 
the  following  distinction:44 

"  Vulgar  Passion  or  that  which  we  commonly  call  Passion,  is  that  which 
is  moved  by  the  Objects  themselves,  or  by  the  Ideas  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  Life,  I  mean  the  common  Society  which  we  find  in  the  World  .  .  .  En- 
thusiastic Passion  or  Enthusiasm  is  a  Passion  which  is  moved  by  the  Ideas 

89  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,   194. 

"Ibid.,   II,   259. 

41 "  In  writing  these  Pindarick  verses  I  had  still  Milton  in  my  eye  and 
was  resolv'd  to  imitate  him  as  well  as  it  could  be  done  without  receding 
from  Pindar's  manner."  Preface  to  the  Court  of  Death,  1695. 

43 "  Congreve  outrime  and  outrage  Dennis,"  Poem  on  the  Peace,  Anon., 
1697- 

43  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.  23. 

44  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  p.   15. 


136 

in  Contemplation  or  in  Meditation  of  Things,  that  belong  not  to  common 
Life :  Most  of  our  Thoughts  in  Meditation  are  naturally  attended  with 
some  sort  and  some  degree  of  Passion,  and  this  Passion,  if  it  is  strong,  I 
call  Enthusiasm :  Now  the  Enthusiastic  Passions  are  chiefly  Six,  Admira- 
tion, Terror,  Horror,  Joy,  Sadness,  Desire,  caused  by  the  Ideas  occurring 
to  us  in  Meditation,  and  producing  the  same  Passions  that  the  Objects  of 
these  Ideas  give  us  of  them.  And  here  I  desire  the  Reader  to  observe, 
that  Ideas  in  Meditation,  are  often  very  different  from  what  Ideas  of 
the  same  Objects  are,  in  the  course  of  common  Conversation.  As  for 
Example,  the  Sun  mention'd  in  ordinary  Conversation,  gives  the  Idea 
of  a  round  flat  shining  Body,  of  about  Two  Feet  Diameter.  But  the  Sun 
occurring  to  us  in  Meditation,  gives  the  Idea  of  a  vast  and  glorious  Body, 
and  the  top  of  all  visible  Creation,  attended  with  Admiration,  and  that 
Admiration  I  call  Enthusiasm.  So  Thunder  mention'd  in  a  common 
Conversation,  gives  the  Idea  of  a  black  Cloud,  and  a  great  Noise,  which 
makes  no  great  Impression  upon  us.  But  the  Idea  of  it,  occuring  in  Medi- 
tation, sets  before  us  the  most  forcible,  most  resistless,  and  consequently 
the  most  dreadful  Phenomenon  in  Nature :  so  that  the  Idea  must  move 
a  great  deal  of  Terror  in  Us,  and  'tis  this  sort  of  Terror  that  I  call  En- 
thusiasm, And  'tis  this  sort  of  Terror  or  Admiration,  or  Horror,  and  so 
of  the  rest,  which  exprest  in  Poetry,  makes  that  Spirit,  that  Passion,  that 
Fire,  which  so  wonderfully  please." 

In  all  probability  Dennis  based  these  ideas  on  his  study  of 
Locke's  Essay  concerning  the  Human  Understanding,^  which 
had  appeared  about  a  dozen  years  before  the  critic  issued  his 
chief  discussion  of  the  nature  of  poetry. 

At  his  boldest  Dennis  went  so  far  as  to  assert46  that  while 
"  all  other  writers  are  made  by  precept,  and  formed  by  Art,  the 
poet  prevails  by  force  of  Nature,  .  .  .  and  is  sometimes  by  a 
spirit  not  himself  exalted  to  Divinity."  But  more  often 
through  his  career  as  a  critic  he  was  restrained  by  his  respect 
for  reason  and  regularity,  so  that  he  declared47  that  the  poet 
must  combine  fury  with  sense.  In  the  Advancement  and  Re- 
formation of  Modern  Poetry  Dennis  emphasized  the  necessity 
of  the  "  fine  frenzy  "  and  said  little  of  any  dependence  of  the 
poet  upon  design;  but  his  innate  conservatism,  reenforced  by 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  manifested  itself  in  the  Grounds  of 
Criticism  in  Poetry,  where  he  took  the  less  advanced  position48 

45  For  example,  see  Locke's  Essay,  Bk.  II,  Ch.  I. 
48  Usefulness  of  the  Stage,  p.  44. 

47  Preface  to  Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose. 

48  Works,  II,  422. 


• 


137 

that  the  poet  must  frame  all  with  the  idea  of  moving  passion — 
the  fable,  the  incidents,  characters,  and  expression;  while  still 
later  he  repeatedly  emphasized  the  neo-classical  idea  of  each 
species  exciting  the  emotion  proper  to  its  kind.49 

Despite  this  growing  conservatism,  however,  Dennis's  atti- 
tude toward  the  emotions  is  markedly  in  advance  of  his  age, 
which  found,  perhaps,  its  extreme  representative  in  Shafts- 
bury,  who  insisted50  ever  on  keeping  the  upper  hand  of  all 
emotion,  and  who  saw  in  good  humor51  the  greatest  security 
against  enthusiasm.  In  direct  opposition  to  Dennis  he  main- 
tained that  emotion  might  befit  the  ancients,  but  that  it  was  ill 
becoming  to  the  men  of  a  later  and  more  sophisticated  age. 
He  further  declared52  that  "  we  are  to  work  [rather]  by 
weaning  than  by  engaging  the  passions."  In  some  of  his  later 
tracts,  such  as  Vice  and  Luxury,  Dennis  remonstrated  against 
such  a  restriction  of  the  passions  and  urged  that  they  should 
be  directed  rather  than  repressed.  To  us  his  insistence  upon 
allowing  a  play  of  the  emotions  is  of  especial  value  as  illustrat- 
ing how  no  one  attitude  toward  letters  in  his  age  ever  gained 
complete  ascendency,  for  his  demand  for  passion  in  poetry  was 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  prevailing  rationalism  no  less  than  his 
attempt  to  exalt  the  writings  of  the  Hebrews,  which  we  shall 
now  discuss,  was  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  neo-classicism. 

IV 

His  MORALISTIC  AND  PATRIOTIC  CONCEPTIONS  OF  POETRY 

Dennis's  effort  to  reconcile  poetry  with  the  Christian  religion 
was  but  one  phase  of  a  long  struggle  which  had  dated  from  the 
time  of  Muzio1  to  that  of  Boileau,  St.  fivremond,  and  Dryden. 
'Against  the  use  in  poetry  of  the  heathen  divinities,  which  had 
become  established  as  a  characteristic  of  neo-classicism,  came 
the  religious  revolt  which  found  expression  in  such  Christian 
poetry  as  that  of  Tasso  and  of  Spenser,2  and  in  France,  despite 

49  E.  g.,  Original  Letters,  p.  9. 

60  Works,    1900,    I,   375. 

*Ibid.,    II,    35- 

10  Ibid.,  II,  281. 

1  Literary  Criticism  in  the  Renaissance,  p.  129. 

9  Ibid.,  p.    161. 


138 

the  pagan  influence  of  the  Pleiade,  in  Vauquelin's  Art  Poetique 
and  in  Du  Bartas's  Uranie.3  Again,  the  question  of  the  pro- 
priety of  biblical  themes  for  the  stage  came  to  an  issue  in 
France  with  Corneille,4  who  had  vigorously  defended  their  in- 
troduction. With  the  growth  in  popularity  of  the  religious 
epic,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Desmaretes 
de  Saint  Sorlin5  urged  the  use  of  the  Christian  marvels  in 
poetry ;  but  he  and  his  followers  were  practically  overwhelmed 
by  Boileau,  whose  powerful  influence  was  thrown  for  continu- 
ing the  paganization  of  literature.  Boileau's  attitude  was 
potent  both  at  home  and  abroad ;  and  his  famous  passage, 

"  De  la  foi  d'un  chretien  les  mysteres  terribles 
D'ornements  egayes  ne  sont  point  susceptibles : 
L'fivangile  a  1'esprit  n'offre  de  tous  cotes 
Que  penitence  a  faire,  et  tourments  merites  ;" 

was  freqently  cited  by  Dennis.  The  rationalistic  view  of  this 
question  found  perhaps  its  best  expression  in  St.  fivremond, 
who,  while  blaming  the  moderns  for  lacking  force  to  abandon 
the  pagan  gods  for  the  Christian  beliefs,6  declared  that  the 
spirit  of  the  existing  religion  was  directly  opposed  to  tragedy.7 
In  England  the  influence  of  the  French  religious  epics  is 
seen  in  such  works  as  the  Gondibert  of  Davenant,  who  de- 
fended himself  in  his  preface  for  thus  introducing  the  Chris- 
tian persons  on  the  ground  that  their  actions  would  exert  a 
more  powerful  influence  for  good  than  could  those  of  pagan 
characters.  His  friend  Cowley,  too,  in  the  notes  to  his 
Davideis  and  in  the  general  preface  to  his  poems,  insisted  upon 
the  poet's  having  recourse  to  the  treasure  house  of  the  Chris- 
tian beliefs;  and  he  called  upon  his  contemporaries  to  rescue 
the  divine  art  from  the  service  of  Satan,  to  which  it  had  been 
perverted.  Dryden  and  Dennis  both  spoke  freely  of  Cowley 
and  his  work;  and  his  beliefs  and  practices  were  not  without 
their  influence  upon  our  critic's  formulation  of  his  theories  in 
regard  to  the  relation  of  religion  and  poetry.8  Indeed  the  in- 

3  Literary  Criticism  in  the  Renaissance,  p.  229. 

4  Oeuvres,   Paris,   1819,   III,   480. 

5  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  II,  334. 

6  Works,  1719,  II,   13  ff.,  272. 

7  Ibid.,  II,   14. 

8  Dennis's  Works,  II,  446. 


139 

terest  of  Dennis  and  Dryden  in  the  Pindaric  ode,9  of  which 
Cowley  was  generally  regarded  as  the  foremost  English  writer, 
seems  to  have  centered  largely  around  the  possibilities  of  using 
that  form  as  a  vehicle  for  religion.  Dryden's  interest  in  the 
relations  of  poetry  and  the  Christian  belief  found  its  most 
notable  expression  in  his  utterances  regarding  the  use  of  pagan 
divinities,  or  machines,  in  modern  poetry.  In  answer  to 
Boileau's  contention  that  the  Scriptures  offered  no  supernatural 
persons  suitable  for  poetry,  he  suggested10  that  the  Christian 
poets  had  not  recognized  their  own  strength,  for  in  the 
prophecy  of  Daniel  they  might  find  authority  for  ministering 
angels  which  would  supply  them  with  better  machinery  than 
that  of  the  ancient  gods.  Dennis  seems  to  have  been  attracted 
by  this  proposal,11  for  he  put  it  into  practice  in  his  most 
pretentious  poem,  Blenheim,  where  Marlborough  is  represented 
as  protected  by  a  guardian  angel  and  opposed  by  the  spirits  of 
discord.  The  latter  part  of  this  scheme  is  also  of  Dryden's 
suggestion.12  Here  it  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  in  his 
earlier  years  as  a  critic  Dennis's  attitude  toward  the  use  of 
machines,  or  supernatural  agencies,  was  not  consistent.  His 
attempt  to  incorporate  heavenly  spirits  in  his  poetry  is  quite  at 
variance  with  his  position  in  his  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur, 
where  he  declared13  that  the  Christian  machines  are  quite  out 
of  nature  and  consequently  cannot  delight.  The  next  year, 
however,  he  maintained14  that  machines  are  the  very  soul  of 
poetry;  while  in  1701  he  took  the  ground15  that  "the  Mysteries 
of  the  Christian  Religion  are  not  to  be  mix'd  with  Fiction,  and 
consequently  it  would  be  a  hard  matter  to  contrive  Machines 
for  an  Epic  Poem  upon  a  Modern  Christian  Subject;"  though 
he  asserted  in  qualification,  we  may  have  the  loftiest  Christian 
poetry  without  machines.  But  the  growing  dogmatism  of  his 
later  years  finds  no  better  illustration  than  his  changing  atti- 

9  Ibid.,  I,  502. 

10  Works,  XIII,  24  ff. 

11  Dryden  once  wrote  to  Dennis  commending  the  plan.     Ker,  II,  279. 
"Dryden's  Works,  XIII,  28. 

13  p.  125. 

14  Usefulness  of  the  Stage  to   the  Happiness  of  Mankind,  p.    114. 

15  Advancement  and   Reformation   of  Modern  Poetry,  p.    134. 


i" 


140 

tude  toward  the  poetic  use  of  the  supernatural ;  for  the  earlier 
hesitation  gave  way  to  the  positive  assertion  that  not  only  may 
machines  be  used,  but  that  they  are  to  be  employed  according 
to  eight  rules,  which  he  proceeded  to  expound.16 

The  chief  interest  in  Dennis's  beliefs,  however,  lies  not  in 
his  attitude  toward  the  introduction  of  machines  but  in  his 
scheme  for  joining  religion  and  poetry,  a  plan  which  he  con- 
sidered quite  his  own.17  It  is  evident,  however,  that  as  he  was 
consciously  influenced  in  formulating  his  views  by  Milton's 
practice  in  Paradise  Lost,  so  he  was  also  guided,  perhaps  un- 
consciously, by  that  writer's  theories.  Dennis's  deep  religious 
nature,  with  its  strong  tinge  of  positiveness  frequently  deepen- 
ing into  dogmatism,  was  unquestionably  attracted  in  part  to 
Milton,  as  Mr.  Saintsbury  has  observed,18  by  that  poet's 
"  avowed  intention  to  make  his  poem  a  theodicy ; "  but  the 
exalted  spirit  of  Paradise  Lost  and  the  mighty  harmonies  aris- 
ing therefrom,  as  Dennis  believed,  fascinated  him  and  led  him 
to  support  his  theory  with  numerous  illustrations  from  Milton's 
epic. 

Dennis's  great  scheme,  promulgated  in  the  Advancement  and 
Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  1701,  and  partly  systematized 
three  years  later  in  his  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  was  an 
attempt  to  settle  the  quarrel  of  the  ancients  and  the  moderns 
then  raging  by  showing  that  through  the  help  of  religion 
contemporary  poets  might  hope  to  equal  the  classical  litera- 
ture.19 Briefly  put,  his  argument  in  the  earlier  treatise  is  this : 
Through  the  fall  of  man  came  the  conflict  between  reason  and 
passion,  which  has  since  been  reconciled  by  the  Christian 
religion.  True  religion  seeks  not  to  suppress  the  passions  but 

19  Remarks  on  the  Rape  of  the  Lock,  p.   23. 

17  Dennis   calls   his   scheme    "  a   piece    of   Criticism,   which   has,    I    know 
not   how,    escaped   the    French    criticks."     Epistle   Dedicatory    to    the   Ad- 
vancement and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry.     It  seems  not  unlikely  that 
Dennis's    interest    in   the   possible    advantages   to    be   gained    from   uniting 
religion   and  poetry  was   quickened  by   the   appearance   in   1700   of  Black- 
more's  Paraphrase  of  the  Book  of  Job,  and  other  parts  of  the  Scripture. 

18  History  of  Criticism,  II,   246. 

19  Dennis  also  believed  that  his  scheme  would  exalt  the  poetry  of  Eng- 
land  over   that   of   her   great   rival,    France.     Epistle   Dedicatory    to    the 
Advancement   and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry. 


141 

to  exalt  them,  which  is  also  the  purpose  of  poetry,  since  by  its 
very  nature  poetry  rouses  passion.  In  so  much  as  divine 
poetry  deals  with  the  loftiest  conceptions  and  emotions  of 
which  mankind  is  capable,  it  has  the  advantage  over  the  classics 
of  better  meeting  the  demands  of  reason  and  of  raising  greater 
passion.  This  last  contention  is  defended  by  several  com- 
parisons, in  the  manner  of  Rymer,  of  passages  in  Vergil,  illus- 
trative of  enthusiastic  passion,  with  others  of  a  similar  nature 
by  Milton.  In  these  comparisons  the  advantage  is  invariably/ 
declared  to  lie  with  the  latter. 

In  the  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  1704,  Dennis'Ny 
elaborated  his  scheme  and  endeavored  to  support  it  by  reason, 
authority,  and  further  illustration.  Religious  enthusiasm,  he 
here  contended,  best  supplies  the  qualities  of  emotional  eleva- 
tion as  given  by  Aristotle,  Hermogenes,  and  Longinus.20  But 
his  respect  for  regularity,  which  had  been  held  in  abeyance 
in  the  Advancement  and  Reformation,  here  asserted  itself,  so 
that  he  declared  that  poetry  is  to  be  established  by  the  laying 
down  of  laws;21  and  he  then  gave  eight  rules  for  the  proper 
regulation  of  enthusiasm.  Of  these  laws  the  first  may  be  cited 
as  perhaps  the  best:  "the  Religion  [of  a  poem]  ought  to  be 
one,  that  the  poet  may  be  moved  by  it  and  that  he  may  appear 
in  earnest."  In  spite  of  this  hobbling  of  Pegasus,  the  book  is 
interesting  and  significant  for  its  reaffirmation  of  passion  as 
the  soul  of  poetry,  its  consideration  of  the  nature  of  enthusi- 
asm, and  its  generous  commendation  of  Milton.  Any  one  of 

20  Dennis's  arguriient  based  upon  Aristotle  is  slight,  consisting  of  a  quota- 
tion from  the  Rhetoric  to  show  that  the  use  of  figurative  language,  which 
is   the   natural    speech    of   passion,    is    less    appropriate    to    prose    than    to 
poetry.     Dennis  then  declared  it  his  belief  that  the   Greeks   called  poetry 
the  language  of  the  gods  because  they  always  represented  their  divinities 
as  speaking  in  verse.     From  Hermogenes  he  cited  the  passage  concerning 
the  qualities  giving  elevation  to  a  discourse  and  showed  how  it  helped  to 
confirm    his    theory.     He   then    quoted    and    considered    in    its    relation    to 
religion  and  poetry  Longinus's  description  of  the  sublime  as  exalting  the 
soul  and  giving  it  a  larger  idea  of  itself,  "  filling  it  with  Joy,  and  a  cer- 
tain noble  Pride,  as  if  itself  had  produced  what  it  barely  reads."     Dennis's 
Works,  II,  427. 

21  Dennis  would  have  urged  in  his  own  defense  that  nature,  reason,  and 
poetry  are  at  the  bottom  one,  and  that  nothing  can  really  please  that  is 
contrary  to   the  eternal  laws  of  reason. 


142 

these  features  of  Dennis's  work  we  may  note  in  passing,  is 
enough  to  refute  Mr.  Saintsbury's  statement22  that  our  author 
shows  the  worst  features  of  his  critical  tribe. 

Dennis's  insistence  that  the  greater  poetry  should  be  religious 
is  but  a  step  beyond  the  position  maintained  by  nearly  all  the 
critics  of  the  age  that  poetry  should  be  moral,  or,  rather,  that 
it  should  have  at  its  base  a  moral  idea.  This  conception  rested 
in  part  upon  the  well  known  Aristotelian  precept  that  things 
should  be  represented  not  as  they  are  but  as  they  should  be 
\  and  upon  the  equally  famous  statement  that  poetry  should  be 
ya  mixture  of  history  and  fable.  Poetry  should  be  based  upon 
history,  the  argument  ran,  because  it  cannot  neglect  the  truth ; 
I  and  it  should  contain  an  element  of  fiction,  because  virtue  un- 
<jidorned  would  not  be  sufficiently  surprising  and  delightful. 
Though  Bacon  had  contended  that  the  writer  more  often  con- 
ceives the  fiction  before  the  moral  than  vice  versa,  the  grow- 
ing neo-classicism  had  tended  to  the  opposite  belief  and  had 
found  a  great  champion  in  Jonson.23  The  neo-classical  doc- 
trine received  additional  confirmation  from  the  authority  of 
Rapin  and  of  Le  Bossu  and  reached  its  height  with  Dacier,24 
who  declared  that  owing  to  the  corruption  of  the  race,  man- 
kind must  be  instructed  through  fables  which  had  been  invented 
to  form  manners.  Homer,  who  had  first  used  the  fable,  had 
represented  Achilles  as  a  man  universal  and  allegorical,  depicted 
largely  for  the  purposes  of  moral  instruction.  Though  these 
extreme  views  met  with  continual  opposition  from  the  Eng- 
lish critics,  the  tendency  of  the  times  was  toward  a  common 
acceptance  of  their  modified  forms.  For  example,  Dryden  in 
his  later  years  expressed  his 'approval25  of  Le  Bossu's  doctrine 
of  first  fixing  the  moral  and  then  erecting  the  story,  though  he 
elsewhere  affirms28  that  the  fable  is  not  the  great  masterpiece  of 
tragedy  but  the  foundation  of  it.  Congreve  prided  himself 
upon  his  regularity  in  writing  his  Double  Dealer,  declaring  in 

22  History  of  Criticism,  II,  434. 

23  Discoveries,   Boston,    1892,  p.   73. 

24  La  Poetique  D'Aristote   Traduite  En  Frangois,  Avec  Des  Remarques, 
Paris,    1692,    Preface,    iii. 

28  Works,    VI,    266. 

28  "  Heads  of  an  Answer  to  Rymer." 


143 

his  preface,  "I  designed  the  moral  first,  and  to  the  moral  I 
invented  the  fable;"  while  Farquhar,  in  his  Discourse  on 
Comedy,  which  for  the  most  part  is  in  advance  of  the  criti- 
cism of  his  age,  affirmed  that  the  fox  in  the  play  is  the  same 
as  the  fox  in  the  fable.  The  neo-classicists  also  maintained 
that  if  the  reader  insisted  that  he  would  read  only  for  pleasure, 
the  writer  was  to  use  such  pleasure  only  as  a  means  of  instruc- 
tion, a  conception  which  received  one  of  its  most  notable 
expressions  by  Dr.  Johnson.27 

With  the  conception  of  the  fable  and  moral  as  just  out- 
lined Dennis  grew  into  greater  and  greater  accord.     He  recon- 
ciled the  demands  for  profit  and  pleasure  with  his  insistence 
upon  passion  by  declaring  that  emotion  is  essential  both  to 
delight   and   to   instruction;28   and   he    further   asserted   that 
passion  is  the  greatest  requisite  for  the  fable.     As  for  the  na- 
ture of  the  fable,  he  considered  it  "  a  discourse  aptly  con- 
trived to  form  the  manners  of  men  by  instruction  disguised 
under  the  name  of  allegory."29     "The  action  of  a  dramatics 
fable,"  he  explained,30  "  is  universal  and  allegorical,  the  char- 
acters  are   so   likewise,     Aesop   does   not   represent   a   single 
animal  [e.  g.}  a  wolf]  but  shows  the  nature  of  that  creature  so 
far  as  the  occasion  where  it  appears,   admits  of.  ...  The- 
Dramatic  Poet  does  not  pretend  to  entertain  us  with  particular  \ 
persons,  though  he  may  give  them  particular  names;  but  pro- 
poses to  lay  before  us  general  and  allegorical  phantoms,  to   j 
make  them  talk  as  persons  compounded  of  such  and  such  quali-  / 
ties  would  act  on  like  occasion,  in  order  to  give  proper ,_  in-  j 
struction."     In  his  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers  Dennis 
declared  that  every  true  comedy  should  be  a  fable,  though  he 
considered  that  type  of  drama  less  adapted  to  inculcate  great 
lessons  than  tragedy,  which  should  always  be  a  solemn  lecture.31 
He  recognized,  however,  that  all  English  plays  were  not  con- 

27  Preface  to   his   edition   of   Shakespeare,    1765,   xiv. 

28  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.  27. 

29  Stage  Defended,  from   Scripture,   Reason,   and   the   Common  Sense   of 
Mankind,  1726,  p.  7. 

30  Usefulness  of  the  Stage  to  the  Happiness  of  Mankind,   1698,  pp.  7  ff. 

31  Epistle  Dedicatory  to   the  Advancement   and  Reformation  of  Modern 
Poetry. 


144 

structed  according  to  these  theories,  but  he  considered  that 

through  long  custom  the  nation  found  these  irregular  dramas 

tolerable.     He  further  maintained  that  the  French,  who  had 

become  habituated  to  art  and  conduct,  disliked  such  plays  as 

heartily  as  the  Italians  disliked  the  English  Gothic  cathedrals. 

While  Dennis's  insistence  upon  religion,  or  at  least  morality, 

as   an  element   in  literature,   had   a  certain  liberalizing  and 

broadening  effect  upon  his  criticism,  it  brought  with  it  another 

and  narrowing  influence:  it  added  to  the  positiveness  of  his 

assertions  as  a  critic  the  dogmatism  of  the  theologian.     Pope 

came  in  for  frequent  attacks  not  only  as  a  bad  poet  but  also 

as  the  enemy  of  religion,  who  was  suborning  Homer  to  popish 

beliefs  ;32  and  Steele  was  debauching33  the  people  and  encourag- 

/ing  vice  and  folly.     But  if  Dennis's  intense  moral  earnestness 

/  thus  impaired  the  value  of  his  criticisms,  it  more  than  com- 

/  pensated  for  this  loss  by  inciting  him  to  break  away  from  the 

conventional    neo-classic   and    rationalistic    standards    of   the 

\   time,  and  to  advocate  as  the  basis  of  poetry  not  reasonableness 

\\or  wit  but  emotion.     Furthermore,  though  we  disagree  with  his 

moralistic  conceptions,  we  must  remember  that  many  of  the 

better  English  critics  have  held  not  dissimilar  views  as  to  the 

function  of  poetry. 

Closely  connected  with  Dennis's  religious  _and  moral  con- 
ception of  poetry  was  his  patriotic  ideal.  Indeed,  to  his  way  of 
thinking,  patriotism,  religion,  and  art  are  inseparably  con- 
nected; for  not  only  did  he  consider  religion  the  basis  of  all 
government,  but  he  believed  with  Milton  that  liberty  is  essen- 
tial to  the  flourishing  of  letters,34  and  that  the  prosperous 
nations  are  those  that  cultivate  the  arts.35  In  his  attacks  upon 
Steele,  for  example,  Dennis  urged36  "all  who  are  concerned 
for  the  Honour  of  the  King  to  protest  against  the  present 
management  of  the  stage  "  as  disgracing  the  nation  and  tend- 
ing to  ruin  the  related  arts.  £he_drama,  he  maintained  in  his 
reply  to  Law,87  is  powerful  to  inspire  "  the  love  of  country,  the 

32  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Translation  of  Homer,  p.  34. 
88  Preface  to  the  Invader  of  His  Country. 
"Preface  to  the  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers,  1723. 
85  Dedication  to  the  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers. 
"Preface  to  the  Defense  of  Sir  Fopling  Flutter,  1722. 
87  Stage  Defended,  1726,  p.  30. 


145 

love  of  liberty,  of  virtue,  and  true  glory;"  and  he  then  pro- 
ceeded with  the  threefold  assurance  of  a  critic,  a  theologian, 
and  a  political  partisan  to  show  that  the  greatest  enemies  of  the 
English  stage  had  been  the  non-jurors.  His  ardent  love  for 
liberty,  his  earnest,  if  not  always  well  directed,  passion  for  the 
welfare  of  his  country  and  countrymen  must  be  recognized  as 
an  important  element  both  in  his  criticism  and  in  his  plays  and 
poems.  Over  half  the  prefaces  of  his  dramas,  to  notice  but  a 
single  class  of  his  writings,  contain  statements  that  the  follow- 
ing plays  were  written  in  behalf  of  liberty,  which  had  ever  been 
his  "  sole  felicity,"38  as  well  as  "  the  continual  theme  of  [his] 
pen,  and  the  constant  employment  of  [his]  life."39 

Like  Dryden,  who  had  early  declared39a  with  Neander  for 
England  and  liberty,  Dennis  placed  great  value  on  some  of  the 
older,  national  writers  because  they  were  his  countrymen.  Jon- 
son  had  been  "  an  honour  to  Great  Britain ;  "  40  and  in  a  burst  of 
patriotism  our  critic  once  declared41  that  not  only  were  several 
things  in  Shakspere  superior  to  any  thing  produced  on  the 
French  stage,  but  his  native  ability  had  been  so  great  that  who- 
ever "  allows  that  Shakespear  had  learning  and  a  familiar 
Acquaintance  with  the  Ancients  ought  to  be  looked  upon  as  a 
Detractor  .  .  .  from  the  Glory  of  Great  Britain."  .Milton, 
too,  had  brought  glory  to  Englishmen,42  though  they  had  but 
tardily  given  him  the  recognition  so  early  and  freely  accorded 
him  by  the  Italians.  This  patriotic  motive,  moreover,  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  Dennis's  greater  critical  writings  of  the 
earlier  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Poetry,  he  declared  in 
the  opening  paragraph  of  the  Grounds  of  Criticism,  "  has  been 
driven  and  banished  from  every  country  except  England  alone ; 
and  it  is  even  here  so  miserably  fallen  .  .  .  that  we  have  reason 
to  apprehend  it  to  be  departing  from  hence  too."  It  was  in 
the  service  of  religion  and  patriotism,  then,  that  he  developed 
his  scheme  for  the  restoration  of  poetry  and  exalted  above  the 

38  Preface  to  his  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer. 

89  Original  Letters,  p.  203. 

89aln  the  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  1668. 

40  Original  Letters,  p.   402. 

41  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  the  Advancement  and  Reformation. 
43  Original  Letters,  p.   78. 

11 


146 

ancients  Milton,  the  English  protestant  bard.  This  note  of 
protest  against  the  decay  of  poetry  and  the  consequent  dis- 
honor and  peril  of  the  country  grew  louder  and  louder  through 
the  later  years  of  Dennis's  life  till  it  became  his  Jeremiad ;  but 
in  his  bluff  and  earnest,  though  often  misdirected,  way  he 
strove  to  render  liberty  and  letters  "  perpetual  in  this  Island."43 

V 

His  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  THE  RULES 

To  show  the  manner  in  which  poetry  might  be  perpetuated 
in  Great  Britain,  Dennis  more  than  once  quoted  the  famous 
statement  of  Milton's1  that  the  youth  should  be  taught  "that 
sublime  art  which  is  in  Aristotle's  Poetics,  in  Horace,  and  the 
Italian  commentaries,  .  .  .  what  the  laws  are  of  a  true  Epic 
poem,  what  of  a  Dramatic,  what  of  a  Lyric,  what  decorum  is, 
what  are  the  great  masterpieces  to  observe."  With  the  atti- 
tude here  expressed  Dennis  was  in  such  thorough  accord  that 
he  used  this  passage  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  Grounds  of 
Criticism  in  Poetry,  which  he  designed  as  an  introduction  to 
his  twice  projected  but  never  realized  scheme  for  a  compre- 
hensive and  thorough  systematizing  of  poetical  theory.  Unlike 
/"Milton,  however,  Dennis  and  his  contemporaries  drew  their 
/  critical  ideas  from  the  JFrerj£b2  rather  than  from  the  Italians  ;3 
for  in  the  latter  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century  French 
\  thought  and  French  arms  were  alike  dominant.  Like  all  other 
contemporary  English  critics  Dennis  was,  of  course,  power- 
fully affected  by  the  canons  of  the  French  neo-classicists,  or 
the  Gallo-Classicists  as  they  have  been  called.  As  already 
stated,  these  critics  are  remembered  chiefly  as  the  champions 
of  the  rules,  so  that  in  determining  Dennis's  attitude  toward 
that  school,  we  must  study  his  position  regarding  these  formu- 
lated precepts.  Did  he  accept  these  canons  with  little  or  no 

43  Original  Letters,  p.  203. 

1  In  his  Treatise  of  Education,  to  Master  Samuel  Hartlib. 

2  Cf .  Pope's  Imitation  of  Horace,  ist  Ode,  2d  Book,  11.  263-267. 

8  Dennis  probably  possessed  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  Italian  critics, 
though  they  apparently  had  little  direct  influence  upon  him.  See  Original 
Letters,  p.  78 ;  Preface  to  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  p.  viii. 


147 

reserve,  as  did  some  of  his  contemporaries,  or  did  he  maintain 
a  more  independent   attitude? 

We  have  already  noticed  some  of  the  chief  sources  from 
which  Dennis  derived  his  respect  for  the  rules,  namely,  from 
the  critical  comments  of  Rapin,  Le  Bossu,  and  Dacier4  and 
from  the  practice  and  theory  of  Cprneille.  With  the  writ- 
ings of  all  these  he  was  well  acquainted  in  the  original;  and 
he  grew  even  more  familiar  with  them  through  their  recog- 
nition and  more  or  less  complete  acceptance  and  promulgation 
by  Dryden.,  Rymer,  Roscommon,  and  Mulgrave.  To  the  in-  \ 
fluence  of  Dryden  especially  was  due  no  small  part  of  Dennis's 
respect  for  these  French  writers  and  their  rules.  Indeed 
through  a  large  part  of  his  career  Dryden  maintained  that 
the  French  were  as  superior  to  the  English  as  critics  as  they 
were  inferior  to  them  as  poets.5  In  his  critical  thinking,  how- 
ever, his  respect  for  the  rules  frequently  conflicted  with  his 
strong  nationalism  and  critical  acumen,  so  that  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  he  should  maintain  that  if  Aristotle  could  have 
seen  the  Cinna,6  he  would  have  altered  his  opinion  regarding 

4  "There  [at  the  Universities]  they  grow  familiar  with  the  Title  pages 
of  ancient  and  modern  Authors,  and  will  talk  of  Aristotle,  Longinus,, 
Horace,  Scaliger,  Rapin,  Bossu,  Dacier,  as  freely  as  if  born  acquaintance : 
Their  mouths  are  filled  with  the  Fable,  the  Moral,  Catastrophe,  Unity, 
Probability,  true  Sublime,  Bombast,  Simplicity,  Magnificence,  and  all  the 
critical  Jargon  which  is  learned  in  a  quarter  of  an  Hour,  and  answers  to 
talk  of  one's  whole  life  after."  James  Ralph,  the  Touchstone,  1728,  p.  161. 

"  Mr.  Congreve  informs  me  that  I  talk  of  the  pedantical  cant  of  Fable, 
Intrigue,  Discovery,  of  Unities  of  Time.  He  means  the  pedantical  Cant 
of  Aristotle,  and  Horace,  of  Bossu  and  Corneille,  of  Rapin  and  Mr.  Dry- 
den ;  that  is,  of  the  best  Criticks  both  Ancient  and  Modern  upon  the  Sub- 
ject." Collier's  Defense  of  the  Short  View,  p.  80. 

"  Whoever  will  be  at  pains  to  read  the  Commentators  on  Aristotle,  and 
Horace's  Art  of  Poetry ;  or  that  will  but  carefully  consider  Rapin,  Dacier, 
and  Bossu,  those  great  masters  among  the  French,  and  the  judicious  re- 
marks of  our  own  Mr.  Rymer,  .  .  .  will  soon  be  able  to  see  wherein  the 
Heroick  Poems  that  have  been  publish'd  since  Virgil  by  the  Italians, 
French,  and  English  Wits  have  been  defective,  by  comparing  them  with 
the  rules  of  writing  set  down  by  those  great  Masters."  Blackmore's  pre- 
face to  Prince  Arthur. 

"Ker's  Dryden,  II,   178. 

8  Preface   to   Troilus  and   Cressida. 


V 

148 

the  nature  of  the  catastrophe.  Elsewhere  he  maintained7  that 
genius  needs  all  possible  reen  for  cement  from  learning,  but 
that  a  writer  should  often  break  a  lesser  or  mechanic  rule 
for  gaining  a  higher  beauty,  since  the  rules  are  founded  both 
"  on  right  reason  and  the  practice  of  the  best  masters." 

These  dicta  of  Dryden's  were  accepted  by  Dennis,  who 
insisted  even  more  strongly  than  his  master  upon  regarding 
reason  and  nature  as  the  basis  of  the  rules.  At  the  outset 
of  his  career  he  emphasized  the  idea  that  "  the  rules  of 
Aristotle  are  nothing  but  nature  and  good  sense  reduced  to 
method;"8  and  two  years  later  he  declared9  that  they  are 
l"  simply  an  observation  of  Nature.  For  Nature  is  Rule  and 
/  Order  in  itself ;  and  there  is  not  one  of  the  Rules  that  might 
I  not  be  vused  to  evince  this."  Further  quotation  on  this  point 
is  perhaps  unnecessary ;  but  we  may  note  that  in  practically  all 
of  the  many  criticisms  where  he  speaks  of  the  nature  of  the 
rules,  he  insists  that  they  are  the  dictates  of  reason,  or  that 
they  "represent  the  order  found  in  nature."  In  his  most 
elaborate  discussion  of  the  rules  and  their  value,  written  when 
he  was  at  his  best  as  a  critic,10  we  discover  an  interesting 
mixture  of  his  rationalistic  and  moralistic  tendencies  with 
those  of  the  school  of  taste.  These  discussions  show  that 
the  scientific  discoveries  of  the  time  had  emphasized  for 
Dennis,  as  for  others  of  his  age,  the  idea  of  a  rational  order 
governing  through  the  universe,  so  that  he  considered  that 
God  himself  is  best  manifested  through  his  laws,  and  that  the 
works  of  God  are  perfect  in  that  they  exhibit  the  operation  of 
perfect  rule  and  order.  At  the  creation,  Dennis  argued,  man, 
too,  had  been  in  harmony  with  the  great  universal  order  and 
in  every  action  had  manifested  its  workings.  Through  his 
transgression  of  this  regularity,  especially  through  bringing 
his  passions  and  reason  into  conflict,  man  had  fallen.  To 
restore  the  race  to  its  pristine  conformity  and  harmony,  and 

7  Works,  VIII,  374. 

8  Impartial  Critick,  p.  49.     The  source  of  this  idea  is  Rapin,  from  whom 
Dryden,  Dennis,   and  Pope  derived  it. 

»  Works,  II,   532. 

10  Discussed  at  length  in  Part  II  of  his  Advancement  and  Reformation 
of  Modern  Poetry,  1701. 


149 

consequently  to  happiness  is,  Dennis  believed,  the  great  pur- 
pose of  all  the  arts,  but  more  especially  of  poetry.  To  accom- 
plish this  reformation,  the  arts  themselves  must  be  reestab- 
lished through  the  observance  of  the  rules. 

His  beliefs  concerning  the  validity  of  these  rules,  however, 
were  much  more  liberal  than  were  the  conceptions  of  most  of 
his  fellow  critics.  For  example,  he  went  beyond  most  of  his 
contemporaries  in  working  toward  a  realization  that  the  effect, 
rather  than  the  means,  is  after  all  the  important  thing.  Thus 
he  urged11  that 

"  as  in  some  of  the  numerous  parts  that  constitute  this  beauteous  all,  there 
are  some  appearing  irregularities,  which  parts  notwithstanding  contribute 
with  the  rest  to  complete  the  Harmony  of  universal  Nature ;  and  as  there 
are  some  seeming  Irregularities  even  in  the  wonderful  Dispensations  of 
the  Supreme  and  Sovereign  Reason,  as  the  oppression  of  the  good,  and 
the  flourishing  of  the  bad,  which  yet  at  bottom  are  rightly  adjusted,  and 
rightly  compensated,  and  are  properly  appointed  by  Divine  Foreknowledge 
for  the  carrying  on  the  Profound  Design  of  Providence;  so  if  we  may 
compare  great  things  with  small,  in  the  accomplish'd  Poem,  some  things  "\ 
at  first  sight  may  be  seemingly  against  Reason,  which  yet  at  the  bottom 
are  perfectly  regular,  because  they  are  indispensably  necessary  to  the  / 
admirable  conduct  of  a  great  and  just  Design." 

Dennis  recognized  Aristotle,  of  course,  as  the  great  expositor 
of  the  rules,  and  throughout  his  critical  career  he  manifested  a 
profound  respect  for  the  precepts  of  the  Stagirite.  But 
Dennis  was  by  no  means  his  blind  partisan.  He  maintained, 
for  example,  that  Aristotle's  observations  on  the  epic  were 
limited  by  their  having  been  based  upon  the  practice  of  Homer  ; 
and  that  Paradise  Lost,  in  so  much  as  it  deals  not  with  the 
strife  of  man  with  man  but  of  the  devil  with  man,  "  being  so 
very  different  from  what  Homer  or  Aristotle  ever  thought  of, 
could  not  possibly  be  subjected  to  their  Rules,  either  for  the 
Characters  or  the  Images."  Moreover,  Milton's  subject,  by 
its  very  nature,  "  threw  him  upon  new  Thoughts,  new  Images, 
and  an  original  Spirit,  all  new  and  different  from  those  of 
Homer  and  Virgil."12 

In  a  word,  then,  we  may  say  that  Dennis  studied  carefully 

n  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  the  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern 
Poetry. 

13  Specimen,  prefatory  to  the  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry, 


150 

and  valued  highly  the  practice  of  the  ancients,  but  that  instead 
[  of  being  a  "  violent  defender  of  antiquity,"  as  has  been 
asserted,13  he  protested  repeatedly  and  vigorously  against 
I  rendering  any  servile  and  unquestioning  obedience  to  the 
\writers  and  critics  of  Greece  and  Rome.  JJe  recogmzed_that 
these  rules  were  mere  means  for  attaining  an  end,14  and  that 
no  observance  of  them  could  make  amends  for  a  want  of 
genius.15  Furthermore,  he  declared  with  Dryden  that  these 
precepts  vary  in  power  and  validity,  and  that  a  lesser  or 
mechanic  rule  may  be  set  aside  for  a  greater.16  His  ideas  of 
the  rules  illustrate  well  how  his  moralistic,  or  perhaps  better 
his  theological  view  colored  most  of  his  theorizing,  but  still 
more  noticeably  they  emphasize  his  thoroughgoing  rationalism ; 
for  in  every  one  of  his  criticisms  in  which  he  discusses  the 
nature  of  these  canons,  he  insists  that  they  are  the  formulated 
precepts  of  nature  and  reason. 

In  his  attempt  to  indicate  the  relation  of  genius  and  the 
rules  Dennis's  respect  for  neo-classical  precepts  clashed  with 
his  regard  for  the  emotional  element  in  literature.  Poetical 
genius  he  defined17  as  "the  power  of  expressing  passion 
worthily,"  a  force  which  enables  a  writer  to  treat  his  theme 
with  "a  dignity  worthy  of  its  greatness."  "Yet  'tis  Art," 
he  urged,18  "  that  makes  a  subject  very  great,  and  consequently 
gives  occasion  for  a  great  Genius  to  show  itself."  Elsewhere 
he  declared19  that  there  never  was  a  great  genius  without  great 
judgment,  and  that  the  greater  the  genius  of  the  writer  the 
more  closely  he  had  followed  the  rules.  Occasionally,  how- 
ever, his  admiration  for  poetic  enthusiasm  conflicted  with  his 

13  Charlanne,  L' Influence  Frangaise  en  Angleterre  au  XV lie  Siecle,  p.  533. 

14  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  Ch.  II. 

18  Preface  to  Iphigenia.  Cf.  Dryden's  letter  to  Dennis  in  Dennis's 
Works,  II,  504- 

16  Remarks  upon  Cato,  p.  40 :  "  Tis  eternally  the  duty  both  of  the  Ancients 
and  the  Moderns,  to  break  through  a  less  important  Rule,  when  without 
that  Infringement  the  greater  one  must  be  violated."     Cf.  Reflections  upon 
an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  14. 

17  Advancement  and  Reformation,  p.  46. 

18  Ibid.,  p.  64.     Cf.  Literary  Criticism  in  the  Renaissance,  p.  158. 

19  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  p.  106.  « 


151 

respect  for  regularity,  as  is  seen  in  his  assertion  that20  Milton's 
genius  cannot  be  reduced  to  an  art.  Felicity  rather  than  art, 
he  affirmed,  characterized  Milton's  choice  of  a  subject  in 
Paradise  Lost,  "a  theme  which  often  furnished  him  with  the 
greatest  of  Ideas,  which  in  turn  suppli'd  him  with  the  greatest 
Spirit."  But  that  this  choice  of  subject  was  the  result  of 
a  happy  chance  rather  than  art  is  shown  by  his  attempting  the 
treatment  of  Paradise  Regained,  which  Vergil,  for  example, 
would  have  recognized  "  could  never  supply  him  with  the  ideas, 
nor  with  the  spirit." 

In  the  controversy  of  the  ancients  and  moderns  then  raging, 
which  was  a  very  natural  outgrowth  of  the  neo-classical  dis- 
cussions, Dennis  took  what  he  called  a  "middle  jx>sition."21 
Rymer's  Short  View  of  Tragedy,  1693,  had  brought  to  Eng- 
land the  discussion  of  this  recurring  question  that  had  been 
revived  in  France;22  and  Dryden,  Temple,  and  a  dozen  others 
had  expressed  their  views.  Dennis  asserted23 

"  'Tis  ridiculous  and  pedantic  to  imagine  that  the  natural  powers  of  the 
soul  were  stronger  or  more  excellent  in  the  Ancients  than  they  are  in  the 
Moderns.  As  to  Experience,  we  have  vastly  the  advantage  of  them.  .  .  . 
Not  but  that  at  the  same  time  I  assert  the  equality  of  the  Faculties  of  the 
Moderns,  and  the  advantage  of  their  Experience,  I  freely  acknowledge  the 
actual  Preheminence  that  several  of  the  Ancients  had  over  the  Moderns ; 
but  .  .  .  that  .  .  .  proceeds  from  accidental  Causes,  and  not  from  any 
Superiority  of  Faculties  in  those  Ancient  Authors." 

In  spirit  Dennis  was  really  with  the  moderns,  for  his  scheme 
for  the  reformation  of  poetry  was  frankly  intended  to  raise 
them  to  the  level  of  the  ancients,  whose  superiority,  he  main- 
tained,24 was  due  to  their  combining  religion  with  poetry.  In 
the  epic,  pastoral,  and  amorous  poetry,  in  which  the  moderns 
could  not  make  full  use  of  their  religion,  he  believed  the  pre- 
eminence of  the  ancients  was  firmly  established.  In  such  forms 
as  comedy  and  satire,  which  are  independent  of  religion,  the 

20  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  3. 

21  Ibid. 

32  Rigault's  Histoire  de  la  Quarrelle  des  Anciens  et  des  Modernes,  Paris, 
1856.  See  also  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  Ixxxviii. 

28  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  the  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern 
Poetry.  \ 

24  Reflections   upon   an  Essay   on   Criticism,  p.    14. 


152 

moderns,  with  Jonson  and  Boileau,  had  born  away  the  prize. 
He  further  maintained  that  the  ancients  had  surpassed  in  the 
greater,  or  Pindaric,  ode  and  in  tragedy;  but  that  by  infusing 
religion  with  their  writings  the  moderns  might  attain  to  the 
same  excellence.  In  this  matter,  as  in  others  concerning  the 
rules  and  their  validity,  Dennis's  strong,  independent  judg- 
ment battled  with  the  critical  authority  of  his  times  and  was 
never  completely  conquered  by  it.  If  he  owned  the  validity  of 
these  rules  attributed  to  the  ancients,  he  did  so  only  after  sub- 
mitting them  to  the  tribunal  of  reason;  and  he  ever  insisted 
that  no  acquaintance  with  the  rules  and  no  observance  of  them 
could  save  the  writer  who  lacked  the  touch  of  genius. 

VI. 

DENNIS  AND  THE  SCHOOL  OF  TASTE 

Though  Dennis's  struggles  toward  freer  critical  beliefs  are 
interestingly  exemplified  in  his  discussions  of  the  neo-classical 
rules,  they  are,  perhaps,  even  better  illustrated  in  his  attitude 
toward  the  conceptions  of  the  school  of  taste,  which  was  tend- 
ing to  recognize  the  importance  of  environment  in  the  pro- 
duction of  letters,  and  to  account  for  a  grace  in  them  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  rules.  First  of  all  we  may  note  that  though 
Dennis  sometimes  distinguished  between  taste  and  judgment 
in  the  criticism  of  letters,1  he  more  commonly  considered  the 
latter  one  of  the  qualities  of  the  former.  In  his  earlier  writ- 
ings,2 he  went  so  far  as  to  make  taste  a  subjective  thing, 
declaring  that  what  is  called  good  sense  is  not  sufficient  to 
form  a  good  taste  in  poetry,  even  though  it  should  be  joined 
with  an  inclination  for  the  art  and  "with  a  tolerable  share 
of  experience  in  it."  If  it  were,  he  maintained,  the  taste  of 
all  men  would  be  alike.  Men  may  be  biased  in  their  judg- 
ments and  have  no  knowledge  of  the  rules  and  of  genius  and 
may  still  be  good  judges  of  certain  forms  of  lyric  poetry;  but 
without  these  advantages  they  can  never  be  "  qualified  to  judge 
of  the  greater  Poetry."3  This  last  judgment,  which  switches 

1  In  the  True  Character  of  Mr.  Pope,  p.   12. 

2  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  pp.  40-42. 

8  Dryden  voiced  much  the  same  idea  in  his  preface  to  All  for  Love,  Ker, 
I,  196. 


153 

from  the  suggestion  of  the  preceding  statement,  is  decidedly 
neo-classical;  and  Dennis  then  proceeds  to  maintain  a  ration- 
alized standard  of  taste,  and  to  prove  by  rule  that  Blackmore's 
Prince  Arthur  could  not  possibly  be  pleasing  to  men  of  taste. 
The  above  statement,  however,  was  rather  an  obiter  dictum,  and 
Dennis's  more  carefully  considered  and  formal  utterance  re- 
garding the  matter  of  taste  appeared  in  his  Large  Account, 
prefatory  to  the  Comical  Gallant,  1702.  In  handling  this  sub- 
ject, in  which  he  considered  himself  a  pioneer,  Dennis  asserted 
that  the  qualities  requisite  for  judging  poetry  (for  whoever 
possesses  them  has  a  good  taste)  are  largely  the  same  as  those 
needed  for  its  production.  These  are  great  parts,  a  generous 
education,  and  due  application.  By  great  parts  Dennis  ex- 
plained that  he  meant  "a  warm  Imagination  and  a  solid  and 
piercing  Judgment/'  A  generous  education,  he  continued,  con- 
sists not  so  much  in  a  knowledge  of  the  classics  as  of  the  world 
and  mankind.  Due  application  requires  both  leisure  and 
serenity;  the  former,  because  poetry  is  of  such  dignity  as  to 
demand  the  whole  man ;  and  the  latter  that  the  writer  may  be 
free  to  enter  into  a  full  consideration  of  his  theme  and  charac- 
ters. Dennis  then  proceeded  to  base  on  these  distinctions  a 
comparison  of  the  taste  at  the  time  of  Charles  II  with  that  of 
his  own  day,  and  by  a  penetrating  study  of  the  conditions  of 
the  two  ages  to  show  that  the  taste  of  the  Town  just  after 
the  Restoration  was  better  than  that  when  Anne  was  crowned. 
He  urged  the  greater  prevalence  of  education  in  the  earlier 
age,  the  respect  paid  those  of  taste  by  their  inferiors,  the 
security  from  political  anxiety,  and  the  general  sway  of 
pleasure,  and  declared  that  this  state  of  things  had  gradually 
given  away  in  his  own  time  to  an  overwhelming  concern 
regarding  the  national  affairs,  to  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  newly  rich  and  of  foreigners,  and  to  other  such  unfavorable 
conditions.  Thus  had  come  about  the  prevailing  decay  of 
taste.  Whether  or  not  we  agree  with  Dennis's  analysis  of 
existing  conditions — and  it  certainly  is  very  suggestive — we 
must  be  impressed  by  the  attitude  toward  literature  here  as- 
sumed in  the  recognition  of  the  influence  of  the  circumstances 
of  production  upon  the  character  of  letters,  a  point  of  view 


154 

quite  different  from  the  conventionl  subservience  to  the  estab- 
lished neo-classical  rules. 

Dennis's  insistence  upon  considering  literature  from  the 
standards  of  the  writer  and  the  reader,  his  attempts  to  analyze 
the  conditions  making  for  the  production  of  letters,  and  his 
recognition  of  social  and  political  conditions  as  influencing 
taste,  all  ally  him  with  the  school  of  taste  and  open  a  field  of 
criticism  which  we  can  but  wish  he  had  penetrated  more  deeply. 
The  recognition  of  environment  as  an  element  to  be  considered 
by  the  critic  was  at  least  as  old  as  Horace  and  passed  current 
in  the  thought  of  the  late  seventeenth  century.  Dryden  quoted* 
the  Roman  critic's  famous  statement  concerning  Lucillius  "Si 
foret  hoc  nostrum  delapsus  in  aevum;"  and  both  the  French 
and  English  critics  of  the  time  recur  to  the  idea.5  But  it  was 
with  St.  fivremond  that  the  emphasis  on  environment  was  the 
most  noticeable.  He  boldly  declared  that  Aristotle's  rules  are 
good,  but  not  for  all  time;6  and  he  stressed  the  effect  of  re- 
ligion and  government  upon  the  drama  in  a  way  that  is  clearly 
reflected  in  Dennis's  Impartial  Critick.  In  this  early  tract 
Dennis  answered  Rymer's  plea  for  the  introduction  of  the 
Greek  chorus  into  the  English  drama.7  The  opening  para- 
graph of  our  critic's  discussion  may  be  quoted  as  typical  of  the 
better  argument  he  employs: 

"  Upon  reading  Mr.  Rymer's  late  Book,  I  found  the  Design  of  it  was 
to  make  several  Alterations  in  the  Stage,  which  instead  of  reforming  would 
ruine  the  English  Drama.  For  to  set  up  the  Grecian  model  among  us 
with  success,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  not  only  to  restore  both  their 
Religion  and  their  Polity  but  to  transport  us  to  the  same  Climate  in 
which  Sophocles  and  Euripides  writ ;  or  else  by  reason  of  these  different 
circumstances,  several  things  which  were  graceful  and  decent  to  them, 
must  seem  ridiculous  and  absurd  to  us,  as  several  things  which  would 
have  appeared  highly  extravagant  to  them,  must  look  proper  and  becomv- 
ing  to  us." 

*Ker,    I,    163. 

5  Critical  Essays   of   the  Seventeenth   Century,   I,   xxxvi ;    II,   287,    303. 
Rymer,  however,  urged  that  nature  and  man  remain  the  same  through  all 
ages.     Tragedies  of  the  Last  Age,  p.  6. 

6  Works,    1719,    H,    12. 

7  See  also   Dryden's   Works,  XIII,   324.     The  French  drama  of  the  fif- 
teenth   century    had    employed    the    chorus,    and    the    Italians    used    it    in 


155 

These  are  the  words  of  the  critic  as  influenced  by  the  school 
of  taste8  and  especially  by  St.  fivremond.9 

Dennis's  idea  of  the  influence  of  climate  upon  literature, 
which  was  another  of  the  notable  conceptions  of  the  school  of 
taste,  also  deserves  passing  mention.  Sprat  had  censured  the 
English  for  their  melancholy  dumpishness,10  and  Temple,11 
Addison,12  Defoe,  and  others  reechoed  the  idea.  Dennis  fre- 
quently referred  to  the  national  moroseness  and  spleen,  the 
most  notable  instance  being  that  in  his  Usefulness  of  the  Stage, 
where  his  statement  that  the  spleen  made  the  nation  prone  to 
rebellion  was  responsible  for  his  indictment  by  the  Middlesex 
grand  jury.13 

In  this  connection  we  may  also  recall  Dennis's  consideration 
of  the  psychology  of  the  writer  and  the  reader.  We  have 
already  discussed  one  feature  of  this  question  in  considering 
his  attitude  toward  enthusiasm  in  composition,  and  we  have  also 
noted  that  the  assumption  and  statement  of  the  common  nature 
of  taste  in  the  reader  and  in  the  writer  lies  at  the  base  of  his 
argument  in  the  Large  Account.  Dennis  was  also  one  of  the 
earliest  English  critics  to  comment  on  "  those  Longings  which 
by  their  pleasant  Agitations,  at  once  disturb  and  delight  the 
Mind,  and  cause  the  prime  satisfaction  of  all  those  readers  who 

tragedy  down  through  the  seventeenth  century.  Early  in  the  seventeenth 
century  the  French  dropped  the  use  of  the  chorus ;  but  later  Racine  re- 
stored it,  and  Dacier  defended  its  employment.  In  England  Milton  had 
advocated  in  the  preface  to  Samson  Agonistes  the  restoration  of  the 
chorus ;  and  Rymer,  influenced  By  Rapin  and  Dacier,  had  introduced  a 
chorus  into  his  Edgar  and  defended  the  practice  in  his  Short  View  of 
Tragedy,  1693. 

8  See  also  his  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.   12  ; 
Usefulness  of  the  Stage,  Ch.  Ill;  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  p.   15. 

9  Dennis's   whole   attitude   in   this    essay   shows   clearly   the   influence   of 
St.  fivremond,  especially  of  his  Fragments  sur  les  Anciens,  Oeumes  Mes- 
lees,   Paris,    1689,   pp.   464   ff.     For   St.    Evremond's   ideas  concerning  the 
influence  of  climate  on  letters  see  cit.  sup.,  p.  563. 

10  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  II,  118.     Cf.  also  the  pre- 
face to  Bossuet's  Maxims  and  Reflections  upon  Plays.     Written  in  French 
by  the  Bp.  of  Meaux  And  now  made  English.     London,  1699. 

"Temple   Of  Poetry,   Works,   1757,   III,   426. 

12  1 79th   Spectator. 

u  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,   I,   ci. 


156 

read  only  to  be  delighted."1*  This  recognition  of  the  appeal 
to  the  reader's  emotion  as  opposed  to  his  intellect  found  expres- 
sion in  the  current  antithesis  of  the  head  and  heart  (esprit  et 
coeur)  which  we  have  noticed  as  attributed  by  Bouhours  to 
Voiture.  This  phrase  gained  currency  in  England  during  the 
last  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  was  frequently  used 
by  Dennis.  How  well  the  contrast  it  implied  agreed  with  his 
conception  of  poetry  is  illustrated  by  his  condemnation  of 
wit:15  "A  Poet  is  obliged  to  speak  always  to  the  heart.  And 
it  is  for  this  reason,  then,  that  Point  and  Conceit  and  all 
they  call  Wit,  is  to  be  banished  from  true  Poetry;  because  he 
who  uses  it  speaks  to  the  head  alone."  In  this  same  early 
critique  he  reiterates  this  contrast  by  maintaining  that  "The 
pathetic,  speaking  to  the  heart,"  is  scarcely  in  Blackmore; 
and  he  also  uses  this  same  distinction  in  one  of  his  latest 
works,16  where  he  states  that  whatever  Terrence  says  touches 
his  heart. 

With  another  view  held  by  the  later  disciples  of  taste  who 
were  making  a  compromise  with  the  prevailing  rationalism, 
Dennis  was  in  agreement,  namely,  the  belief  that  in  language 
and  expression  there  is  a  point  of  perfection,  and  that  whatever 
falls  on  either  side  of  this  point  misses  the  highest  beauty. 
This  view,  which  found  its  best  formulation  in  La  Bruyere,17 
is  exemplified  in  Dennis's  early  contention18  that  for  each 
sentiment  or  thought  there  is  a  fitting  degree  of  passion  and 
that  every  expression  "  above  or  below  "  is  improper.  Some- 
what similarly  he  maintained19  that  every  language  has  its 
particular  point  and  time  of  perfection.  The  poet  is  most 
fortunate  who  writes  in  an  age  when  the  language  has  reached 
that  point,  though  his  verse  need  not  grow  obsolete,  if,  at  the 
time  he  wrote,  the  tongue  had  attained  a  certain  harmony. 

Dennis  also  advocated  another  conception  of  the  school  of 
taste,20  namely,  that  the  critic  should  be  concerned  with 

14  Remarks  upon  Cato,  p.  16. 

"  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  p.  186. 

18  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers,  p.  31. 

17  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  xcviii. 

18  Preface  to  On  the  Death  of  Queen  Anne. 

19  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  19. 

20  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Cent.,  I,  xcviii. 


157 

finding  the  beauties  rather  than  the  faults  of  a  writer;  and 
though  his  practice  in  his  later  years  was  at  variance  with  thi 
opinion,  he  maintained  it,  in  theory  at  least,  throughout  his  life. 
This  conception  was  by  no  means  novel.  Dryden  had  declared 
in  i66921  that  "there  is  much  ill  nature  and  little  judgment  in 
finding  the  mistakes  of  a  writer,"  and  had  repeated22  the 
statement  in  his  last  years.  This  "  beauty-blemish  "  conception, 
which  was  as  old  as  Horace's  "  Ubi  plura  nitent  in  carmine, 
non  ego  paucis  offendar  maculis"23  received  fresh  emphasis, 
as  we  have  noted,  from  Boileau's  translation  of  Longinus 
in  1674.  Dennis  early  accepted24  and  voiced  this  thought  with 
its  implied  emphasis  on  individual  charm.  Later  he  sub- 
ordinated this  demand  for  beauties  in  a  poem  or  play  to  that 
for  genius,25  declaring  that  where  the  latter  was  lacking  he  had 
no  eye  for  the  former.  He  recognized,  even  in  his  last  years,26 
that  greater  beauties  may  occasionally  be  shown  without  the 
rules,  but  he  maintained  that  in  general  the  beautiful  is  most 
effectively  attained  through  regularity.  On  the  whole  these 
different  conceptions  of  the  school  of  taste,  such  as  the  recog- 
nition of  environment  as  affecting  the  production  of  letters, 
the  awakening  interest  in  the  psychology  of  the  writer  and 
the  reader,  and  the  shifting  of  emphasis  from  criticism  to 
appreciation,  tended  decidedly  to  broaden  Dennis's  critical 
thinking ;  and  we  can  only  regret  that  he  never  carried  farther 
his  consideration  of  these  tendencies,  which  he  began  in  his 
Large  Account  of  Taste  and  projected  on  a  more  compre- 
hensive plan  in  his  unrealized  Large  Account  of  our  Most 
Celebrated  English  Poets  Deceased.  He  never  renounced  these 
conceptions  of  taste  just  outlined,  but  in  his  later  years  he 
rather  stressed  with  increasing  insistence  the  importance  of  the 
rules  as  the  embodiment  of  law  and  order  in  the  world  of 

21  Preface  to  Tyrannic  Love. 

23  Introduction  to  the  "  Heads  of  an  Answer  to  Rymer." 

23  Quoted  by  Dennis  in  the  preface  to  his  translation  of  Burnet's  Treatise 
on  Departed  Souls. 

24  Preface  to   the  Impartial  Critick   and  preface  to  Remarks   on  Prince 
Arthur. 

25  Original  Letters,  p.  292. 

26  Nichols's  Theatre,  II,  379. 


158 

letters.  Nevertheless  we  may  well  remember  that  the  writ- 
ings of  his  better  period  show  him  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
attitude  toward  literature  held  by  the  school  of  taste  and  in 
thorough  agreement  with  its  principal  beliefs. 

VII 

THE  GREAT  TYPES  OF  LITERATURE 

Turning  now  from  the  discussion  of  Dennis's  attitude  toward 
some  of  the  chief  tenets  of  the  different  schools  of  his  time  to 
his  views  regarding  the  various  types  of  literature,  we  may 
note  that  in  common  with  his  age  he  laid  great  stress  upon  the 
importance  of  distinguishing  the  different  species  of  letters. 
Aristotle's  emphasis  of  the  various  classes  of  literature,  to- 
gether with  his  statement  that  each  type  is  to  produce  a  pleas- 
ure peculiar  to  its  kind,  had  been  seized  upon  by  the  neo- 
classicists  and  given  a  place  near  the  corner  stone  of  their 
critical  structure.  Through  Scaliger  and  the  Pleiade,  down 
through  Boileau,  came  the  exaltation  of  the  type,  till  Shafts- 
bury  went  so  far  as  to  declare1  that  "the  main  matter  [of 
writing]  is  to  keep  these  provinces  [of  the  types]  distinct 
and  to  settle  their  boundaries."  Against  this  excessive  rever- 
ence for  the  type  was  directed  frequent  satire — from  Polonius's 
speech  to  Gay's  What-d'-Ye-C all-It;  but  the  idea  had  flour- 
ished, and  respect  for  the  type  dominated  the  critical  thinking 
of  Dennis's  time.  Milton,  indeed,  saw  in  some  of  the  books 
of  the  Bible  examples  of  these  genres — the  book  of  Job  he 
considered  a  short  epic2 — and  after  him  Dennis  voiced  the  same 
beliefs.  Our  critic  also  accepted  and  continually  maintained 
the  idea  that  each  type  is  to  please  and  to  instruct  through 
its  own  proper  passion — the  epic  through  admiration,  tragedy 
through  terror  and  pity,  and  comedy  through  the  ridiculum. 
But  Dennis's  calm  statement  of  belief  in  each  type's  affording 
a  pleasure  peculiar  to  its  kind,  which  appeared  in  such  an 
early  work  as  the  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  grew  to  a  very 

1  Works,   i  goo,   I,  232. 

2  In  the  Second  Book  of  the  Reason  of  Church  Government  Urg'd  Against 
Prelaty,  1641. 


159 

positive  certainty  in  the  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism 
and  to  the  utterance  of  infallibility  in  the  Remarks  on  the 
Conscious  Lovers.  It  is  interesting,  however,  to  note  in  this 
connection  that  his  increase  in  controversial  bitterness  unques- 
tionably affected  his  judgment  in  this  as  in  other  matters.  The 
old  critic  instinctively  sought  some  fixed  canons  for  testing 
new  poems  and  plays ;  and  he  was,  in  his  later  years  at  least, 
attracted  by  the  very  definiteness  of  the  neo-classical  scheme. 

In  centering  his  critical  interest  upon  poetry  and  practically 
ignoring  prose,  Dennis  was  merely  accepting  the  current  neo- 
classical attitude.  Poetry  is  more  harmonious  than  prose  he 
maintained,3  because  it  is  more  pathetic.  Measures  and  num- 
bers, he  repeatedly  declared,4  are  not  sufficient  to  constitute 
poetry;  passion  must  everywhere  prevail.  He  divided  poetry 
into  two  classes,5  the  greater  and  the  lesser, — the  former  in- 
cluding the  epic,  tragedy,  and  the  greater  lyric;  the  latter 
comedy,  satire,  the  little  ode,  and  the  pastoral.6  Only  the 
greatest  poetry  is  capable  of  the  most  exalted  emotion,  though 
lesser  passion  should  characterize  both  kinds.  He  accepted 
the  conventional  analysis  of  poetry  into  fable,  manners,  thought, 
and  expression  and  used  this  division,  more  or  less  consistently, 
in  his  criticism  of  literature. 

Speculation  regarding  one  of  these  great  types,  the  epic, 
began  in  England  with  Harrington's  Apology  for  Poetry,  which 
marks  the  first  appearance  in  that  country  of  Aristotle's  theory. 
Through  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  interest  in  the 
epic  grew  rapidly  and  found  expression  in  the  numerous  at- 
tempts in  that  form  both  in  England  and  in  France.7  In  1675 
appeared  Le  Bossu's  Traite  du  Poeme  Epique,  a  systematic 
consideration  of  the  epic,  based  upon  Aristotle,  which  met  with 
great  favor.  Boileau  praised  the  work  most  highly;8  Dryden, 

8  Preface   to    the   Remarks   on   Prince   Arthur.     Preface   to   Blenheim. 
*  Especially  in  the  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur  and  in  the  Remarks  upon 
Cato. 

5  Works,    II,    422 ;    Advancement    and    Reformation    of   Modern    Poetry, 
p.    48. 

6  Cf.  the  1 2th  Guardian. 

7  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  this  subject  see  Ker's  Dryden,  I,  xvii. 

8  Oeuvres,  Paris,   1819,  II,  259. 


160 

as  we  have  noted,  added  his  applause  for  the  critic  who  had 
given  such  exact  rules;  and  Dennis  declared  that  no  modern 
had  understood  the  epic  till  Le  Bossu  had  unraveled  it.9  In 
the  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur f  which  has  been  characterized  as 
one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the  first,  English  book  review,  Dennis 
applied  Le  Bossu's  scheme  to  the  judgment  of  Blackmore's 
fashionable  epic.  He  began  with  the  French  critic's  definition 
of  the  epic  and  in  general,  through  his  incomplete  criticism,10 
followed  with  little  essential  variation  Le  Bossu's  ideas  and 
plan  of  treatment.11  His  method  may,  in  general,  be  char- 
acterized as  an  explanation,  comment,  and  application  of  Le 
Bossu's  system  in  judging  Prince  Arthur.  Dennis,  however, 
in  recognizing  the  authority  of  Le  Bossu  and  his  great  source 
Aristotle,  insisted  repeatedly  that  their  precepts  were  sound  not 
because  they  themselves  uttered  them,  but  because  they  had 
based  their  rules  upon  reason.12 

In  a  letter  to  Sir.  Richard  Blackmore13  Dennis  summarized 
his  views  on  the  epic  either  explicit  or  implicit  in  his  judgment 
of  Prince  Arthur.  These  views  are,  with  slight  variations, 
equally  applicable  to  his  criticisms  of  the  plot,  or  fable,  and  the 
characters  in  other  types  of  literature.  An  epic,  he  explained, 
must  possess  a  fable  which  shall  have  unity,  and  which  shall 
exist  for  the  sake  of  the  moral,  conveyed  in  the  form  of  an 
allegory.  Of  this  action  admiration  should  be  the  predominant 
quality.  The  instruction  from  the  poem  must  be  general,  and 

9  Advancement   and   Reformation   of  Modern  Poetry,   p.   200. 

10  Dennis   promised   to   complete   the   criticism   of  Prince  Arthur,   if   the 
public   interest   demanded,   by   discussing   in   another  volume   the   thoughts 
and  expression  of  the  poem.     Evidently  the  public  considered  one  volume 
enough,   for  he  never  continued   the   discussion. 

11  The   following  comparison   of   Dennis's   Remarks  with  the   Traite   du 
Poeme  Epique  indicates  the  most  notable  of  the  direct  borrowings   from 
the   French   critic : 

Remarks:  i ;       13             17;  18 ;                      24;         28; 

Traite:  I,  4;  I,  70;  I,  170-174;  I,  169,  175,  176;  I,  216;  I,  169; 

Remarks:  36;              44;              45;  46;              51;              52; 

Traite:  I,  35;       II,   31;       II,   32;  II,   33;       II,   37;        II,  89; 

Remarks:  53;                    53;  55;                           55- 

Traite:  II,  Saff. ;           II,   100;  II,   102-104;         II,   ni-n8. 

"  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,   p.    3. 

u  Original  Letters,  pp.    i    ff. 


161 

the  action  and  characters  must  "  remain  general  even  after  the 
imposition  of  names;"  for  if  they  were  particular,  they  would 
produce  no  general  Instruction.  Dennis  then  maintained  that 
the  epic  poet  must  have  his  moral  clearly  in  mind  before  he 
forms  his  action.  "  Can  any  one  believe,"  he  demands,  "  that 
Aesop  first  told  the  Story  of  a  Cock  and  Bull,  and  afterwards 
made  a  Moral  to  it?  Or  is  it  more  reasonable  to  believe,  that 
he  made  his  Moral  first,  and  afterwards  to  prove  it,  contrived 
his  Fable  P1*  Now  I  know  no  difference  that  there  is,  between 
one  of  Aesop's  Fables,  and  the  Fable  of  an  Epic  Poem,  as  to 
their  Nature,  tho'  there  may  be  many  and  great  ones  as  to  their 
Circumstances."  These  views  held  a  place  in  Dennis's  critical 
thinking  from  the  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur  to  those  on  the 
Rape  of  the  Lock;  and  though  they  met  with  an  occasional 
protest,  such  as  that  of  Parnell15  about  Homer's  writing  fables 
and  others  finding  the  morals,  they  held  common  sway  through 
the  age. 

As  a  corollary  to  his  theory  regarding  the  nature  of  the  plot, 
Dennis  asserted16  that  to  give  instruction  the  characters  of  an 
epic17  must  be  universal  and  allegorical,  even  after  the  imposi- 
tion of  names.  This  contention  had,  of  course,  come  in  part 
from  Aristotle's  dicta,  as  had  also  the  belief  that  the  proper 
kind  of  emotion — amazement  in  the  epic,  terror  and  pity  in 
tragedy,  etc. — should  reign  in  the  characters.  From  Aristotle 
and  Le  Bossu  was  derived  Dennis's  definition  of  the  manners 
as  the  means  of  representing  each  person  in  his  proper  char- 
acter, and  of  the  sentiments  as  the  expression  of  the  manners. 
The  characters,  he  further  maintained  with  Le  Bossu,  are  to  be 
good,  "  like,"  convenient,  and  equal  ;18  or,  as  he  explained  it,  to 
be  fitting  to  the  kind  of  person,  resembling  the  historical  state-  q(  ( 
ments  regarding  him,  becoming  to  his  age,  country,  and  sur- 

14  For  an  expression  of  similar  views  by  Dryden,  see  Ker,  I,  213. 

15  Poems  on  Several  Occasions,  Dublin,    1776,  p.  99. 
18  Original  Letters,  p.   3. 

"  Dennis  applied  these  same  rules  to  the  characters  in  tragedy  and  com- 
edy. With  slight  modifications  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  epic  is  equally 
applicable  to  his  views  regarding  dramatic  plot  and  characters. 

"Dryden,  too,  adopted  from  Le  Bossu  this  scheme  for  judging  charac- 
ters. Ker,  I,  214. 

12 


162 

roundings,  and  steadily  maintained.  These  conceptions,  which 
owed  much  to  Horace,19  gave  little  or  no  place  for  character 
development20  and  fostered  the  representation  of  man  rather 
than  men.  They  were  softened  somewhat  in  Dennis's  earlier 
writings  by  his  insistence  that  the  characters  must  be  touched 
with  passion,21  though  later  he  valued  more  and  more  their 
conformity  with  the  standards  just  discussed. 

Closely  connected  with  this  conception  of  character,  and  in 
part  an  outgrowth  of  it,  was  Dennis's  acceptance  of  the  theory 
of  poetic  justice,  which,  though  more  commonly  associated  with 
his  ideas  of  the  drama,  was  also  applied  by  him  to  the  epic 
and  may,  perhaps,  best  be  noticed  here.22  The  conception  of 
poetic  justice  arose  in  part,  as  Professor  Spingarn  has  stated, 
from  the  Aristotelian  ethics  of  distributive  justice,  though  the 
Stagirite  had  nowhere  commended  the  idea  in  his  Poetics  but 
had  rather  condemned  its  application  to  tragedy.  Corneille 
stated  that  his  age  had  made  the  belief  its  own,23  and  wavering 
as  he  was  in  his  critical  conceptions,  he  did  much  to  popularize 
the  idea  in  France.2*  In  England  Bacon  had  leaned  toward  an 
acceptance  of  this  doctrine,  for,  as  he  puts  it,25  "true  history 
propoundeth  the  success  and  issue  of  actions  not  so  agreeable  to 
the  merits  of  virtue  and  vice,  therefore  poesy  feigns  them  more 
just  in  retribution,  and  more  according  to  revealed  providence." 
A  little  later  Ben  Jonson,  foreshadowing  the  term  poetic 
justice,  had  asserted  in  his  preface  to  Volpone,  that  it  is  "  the 

19  Ars  Poetica,  11.   127  ff. 

20 " .  .  .  a  Poet  who  designs  to  give  a  true  Draft  of  Human  Life  and 
Manners,  must  consult  the  Universal  Idea  and  not  particular  Persons. 
For  example,  when  the  Poet  would  draw  the  Character  of  a  covetous  and 
revengeful  Person,  he  is  not  to  draw  after  Lucius  or  Cassius ;  but  to  con- 
sult the  Universal  Pattern  within  him,  and  there  to  behold  what  Revenge 
and  Covetousness  would  do  in  such  and  such  natures."  Reflections  upon  an 
Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  31.  See  also  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century,  I,  Ixxviii. 

21  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  p.   128. 

22  For  a  brief  history  of  the  idea  of  poetic  justice,  see  Critical  Essays 
of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  I,  Ixxviii. 

23  Oeuvres,  Paris,   1862,  I,   58. 

24  Charlanne,   U Influence   Frangaise   en   Angleterre,    Paris,    1906,   p.    541. 
Cf.  also  St.  fivremond's  Works,  1719,  II,  22. 

25  Advancement  of  Learning,  London,  1808,  II,  167. 


163 

office  of  a  comic  poet  to  imitate  justice."  Dryden,  who  had 
declared  for  poetic  justice  in  the  preface  to  Troilus  and 
Cressida,  in  the  dedication  to  the  Spanish  Friar,  and  in  the 
preface  to  his  translation  of  the  Aeneid,  was,  probably,  in- 
fluenced somewhat  by  Bacon's  authority,  but  still  more  potently 
in  this  matter  by  that  of  Rymer.  This  last  named  critic  had 
found  the  idea  strongly  advocated  in  Rapin's  remarks  on  Aris- 
totle, which  he  had  translated  into  English.  He  made  the 
belief  his  own,  introduced  the  term  "poetic  justice"  into 
English,26  and  stood  as  the  particular  champion  of  the  doctrine. 
From  him  the  theory  was  passed  on  to  Dennis. 

Dennis's  ideas  of  poetic  justice  were  a  not  illogical  outgrowth 
of  his  conceptions  of  plot  structure  and  of  character  portrayal. 
His  argument  in  favor  of  the  theory  may  be  stated  thus:27 
If  the  aim  of  the  epic  and  of  tragedy  be  to  instruct,  they  must 
be  based  on  the  "  Universal  Moral,  which  is  the  foundation  of 
all  Morals,"  namely,  "That  he  who  does  good  and  perseveres 
in  it,  shall  always  be  rewarded,  and  that  he  who  does  ill  and 
perseveres  in  it,  shall  always  be  punished."  This  reward,  he 
continued,  "must  always  attend  and  crown  good  Actions,  not 
some  times  only,  for  then  it  would  follow,  that  a  perseverance 
in  good  actions  has  no  Rewards,  which  would  take  away  all 
poetical  Instruction,  and  indeed  every  sort  of  Moral  In- 
struction, resolving  Providence  into  Chance  or  Fate."28  l£.  is 
easy  to  see  why  Dennis  should  champion  this  th&fry  'of  poetic 
justice  when  we  consider  how  fundamental  he  considered  it  in 
his  moralistic  justification  of  the  rules;  for  to  his  way  of 
thinking  there  could  be  no  regular  epic  or  drama -that  did  not 
embody  a  fable,  nor  any  fable  without  a  moral,  nor  any  moral 
without  poetic  justice.  "What  can  be  the  moral,"  he  queries, 
"when  the  good  and  bad  are  confounded  by  Destiny,  and 

28 "  Mr.  Rymer  was  the  first  who  introduced  it  [the  term  poetic  justice] 
into  our  native  Language."  Original  Letters,  p.  410. 

27  Unless  otherwise  stated  the  following  passages  are  based  upon  Den- 
nis's letter  to  Blackmore,  in  the  Original  Letters,  p.  i  ff. 

28 "  The  good  must  never  fail  to  prosper  and  the  bad  to  be  punished ; 
otherwise  the  Incidents,  and  particularly  the  Catastrophe,  which  is  the 
Grand  Incident,  are  likely  to  be  imputed  to  chance  rather  than  to  Al- 
mighty Conduct  and  Sovereign  Justice."  Original  Letters,  p.  376. 


164 

perish  alike  promiscuously?"29  As  a  further  reason  for 
measuring  out  just  rewards  and  punishments  to  poetic  crea- 
tions Dennis  urged  that  as  "man  is  finite  and  too  hollow  a 
creature  to  know  another  thoroughly,  he  must  needs  leave  this 
final  Judgment  of  a  wicked  neighbor  to  the  Infinite,  who  com- 
prehends all  motives."30  But  dramatic  and  epic  "  Persons,"  he 
continued,  are  the  "  Creatures  of  the  Poet,  who  must  not  only 
know  the  extent  of  their  Guilt  and  what  they  ought  to  suffer," 
but  must  also  make  these  things  clear  to  the  reader  or  hearer. 
Then  too,  these  poetic  creations  are  without  reserve :  we  know 
their  inmost  thoughts  and  feelings  and  in  consequence  may 
pass  judgment  upon  them.  Furthermore,  Dennis  was  prompt 
_to_grant  that  in  the  world  about  us  men  do  not  always  fare 
as  they  deserve,  and  that  only  with  the  judgments  of  another 
life  are  these  inequalities  adjusted;  but  he  argued  repeatedly 
and  vigorously  that 

"  Poetical  Phantoms  are  of  short  duration,  through  the  whole  extent  of 
whose  duration  we  can  see  at  once,  which  continues  no  longer  than  the 
reading  of  the  Poem,  and  that  being  over  the  Phantoms  are  to  us  nothing, 
so  that  unless  our  Sense  is  satisfy'd  of  the  Reward  that  is  given  to  this 
Poetical  Phantome,  whose  whole  duration  we  see  thro'  from  the  very  be- 
ginning to  the  end ;  instead  of  a  wholesome  Moral  there  would  be  the  per- 
nicious Instruction,  viz.  That  a  Man  may  persevere  in  good  Actions,  and 
not  be  Rewarded  for  it  thro'  the  whole  extent  of  his  Duration,  that  is 
neither  in  this  World  nor  in  the  World  to  come."  31 

This  conception  of  poetic  justice,  when  brought  into  union 
with  his  ideas  of  the  functions  of  the  different  types  of  litera- 
ture, affected  in  an  interesting  manner  his  notions  of  the  kinds 
of  characters  proper  for  the  drama  and  for  the  epic.  The 
relations  of  comedy  and  poetic  justice  caused  him  but  little 
perplexity,  for  he  believed  that  the  exposure  on  the  stage  of 
such  characters  as  are  fitted  for  comedy  brought  with  it  a 
laughter  that  satisfied  the  demands  of  retribution.32  In  the 

29  Original  Letters,  p.  414. 

80  Ibid.,   p.    413. 

81  Ibid.,  p.  8. 

82 "  Humour  in  Comedy  is  nothing  but  a  little  ridiculous  Passion  and  the 
exposure  of  it  in  Comedy  is  thought  to  be  Poetic  Justice  sufficient  for  it. 
Comic  characters  are  to  be  punish'd,  but  punishment  is  to  be  wrapp'd  up 
in  the  ridiculum."  Large  Account  of  Taste. 


165 

case  of  the  relations  of  tragedy  and  poetic  justice,  however,  the 
answer  was  not  so  simple ;  and  Dennis's  long  letter  of  reply  to 
Addison's  attack  upon  the  theory  in  the  fortieth  Spectator  is 
devoted  mainly  to  showing  how  an  observance  of  this  principle 
is  necessary  in  tragedy  for  arousing  the  proper  emotions, 
namely,  terror  and  pity.  In  support  of  his  contention  that  an 
unhappy  ending  of  a  tragedy  is  in  harmony  with  this  prin- 
ciple of  poetic  retribution,  Dennis  cited33  Aristotle's  discussion 
of  the  tragic  fault,  showing  that  the  heroes  in  that  species  of 
4rama  must  be  neither  absolutely  blameless  nor  entirely  bad, 
for  in  either  case  they  would  be  incapable  of  exciting  the 
passions  proper  to  tragedy.  Rather  must  they  be  "  Persons 
who  having  neglected  their  Passions,  suffer  them  to  grow 
outrageous,  and  to  hurry  them  to  actions  which  they  would 
otherwise  abhor."34  "  With  Aristotle,  too,  he  recognized  the 
possibility  of  tragedies  with  happy  endings,  a  class  of  plays  in 
which  the  distribution  of  justice  became  a  comparatively  easy 
matter;  for  though  Dennis  nowhere  states  how  the  heroes  in 
such  dramas  are  to  atone  for  their  faults  and  meet  the 
demands  of  poetic  justice,  his  probable  answer  may  be  inferred 
from  his  discussion  of  retribution  in  the  epic,35  in  which  species 
he  believed  that  the  ending  must  inevitably  be  happy.  Though 
the  great  central  character  of  the  epic  be  morally  imperfect,  so 
his  argument  runs,36  it  is  almost  universally  true  that  epic 
heroes  are  men  of  great  public  virtue,  so  great  as  to  make 
"  compensation  for  all  Faults  but  Crimes,  and  he  who  has  this 
public  Virtue  is  not  capable  of  Crimes."  Dennis  further  urged 
that  the  epic  heroes  are  almost  invariably  represented  as  carry- 
ing on  some  great  design  for  the  betterment  of  society,  and 
that  their  heroic  deeds  are  the  source  of  that  admiration  which 
is  the  only  emotion  proper  for  an  epic.  To  represent  an  epic 
hero  as  meeting  an  unhappy  end  would  arouse  terror  or  pity 
rather  than  admiration.  Furthermore,  the  success  of  the  hero 
not  only  excites  admiration  in  the  hearers  or  readers,  but  it  also 
serves  a  patriotic  purpose,  since  it  "  kindles  every  one  of  them 

33  Original  Letters,  p.   i  o. 

34  Ibid.,  p.  415. 
85  Ibid.,  p.   414. 

36  Ibid.,   pp.    i    ff. 


166 

with  a  Love  of  his  Country,  and  with  a  burning  Zeal  to  imitate 
what  he  admires."37 

These  different  arguments  of  Dennis's  in  favor  of  poetic 
justice  which  we  have  just  been  discussing,  were  shaped  to 
some  slight  extent  by  his  patriotic  tendencies,  still  more  by 
his  religious  ones,  and  perhaps  most  of  all  by  his  rationalism. 
Beneath  all  these  arguments  for  poetic  justice,  we  may  note  in 
a  word,  lies  his  belief  that  poetry  instructs  through  examples, 
and  that  to  make  these  examples  effective  the  poet  must  dis- 
tribute justice  omnisciently.  Furthermore,  rational  criticism, 
as  we  have  previously  noticed,  demanded  that  the  poet  should 
reproduce  in  letters  the  order  which  contemporary  science  was 
discovering  in  the  world  about;  and  Dennis,  along  with  most 
of  the  critics  of  his  day,  attempted  to  apply  this  doctrine  of 
poetic  justice,  thinking  thereby  to  establish  a  rationalized  and 
perfect  moral  order  in  the  domain  of  letters. 

Dennis's  best  known  defense  of  poetic  justice  is  his  reply  to 
the  fortieth  Spectator,  in  which  Addison  had  declared  that  the 
theory  was  "without  Foundation  in  Nature,  in  Reason,  or  in 
the  practice  of  the  Ancients."  Dennis's  reply,  with  its  defense 
and  explanation  of  the  doctrine,  has  been  largely  reproduced 
in  the  preceding  discussion.  Again,  Dennis's  regret  at  Shaks- 
pere's  failure  to  observe  poetic  justice  in  Coriolanus  led  him 
to  change  the  ending  of  that  play.  In  his  alteration  both 
Coriolanus  and  Titus  Aufidius  perish,  and  the  tribunes  are 
represented  as  being  driven  toward  the  Tarpeian  rock.  His 
last  notable  utterance  on  this  subject  came  in  his  letter  to  Sir 
Richard  Blackmore,  On  the  Moral  and  Conclusion  of  an  Epic 
Poem,  which  he  afterwards  printed  as  the  first  of  the  Original 
Letters.  Here  it  was  that  he  discussed  at  length  his  belief  that 
the  epic  hero  must  "  meet  a  prosperous  End."  Today  we  smile 
at  this  quaint  doctrine,  which  is  frequently  associated  with  the 
name  of  our  author,  but  we  must  not  forget  that  fifty  years 
later  this  same  belief  found  a  champion  in  no  less  a  critic  than 
Dr.  Johnson.  Some  other  questions  regarding  the  nature  of 

37  Compare  Gildon's  statement  in  his  preface  to  Phaethon,  that  poetic 
justice  "  establishes  a  just  notion  of  Providence  in  its  most  important  Ac- 
tion, the  Government  of  Mankind." 


167 

character,  especially  in  the  epic,  interested  Dennis ;  but  in  the 
main  they  were  of  very  slight  importance,  so  we  may  well  turn 
to  a  consideration  of  his  attitude  toward  another  of  the  great 
types — tragedy. 

With  regard  to  the  neo-classical  question  as  to  which  should 
be  regarded  as  the  greatest  of  the  types,38  Dennis  was  at  vari- 
ance with  Rapin,  Dryden,  Mulgrave,  and  Gildon,  who  had 
declared  for  the  epic.39  Tragedy,  Dennis  considered,  is  more 
pleasing  and  instructive  than  the  epic;  and  he  further  main- 
tained that  with  comedy  it  furnishes  the  only  legitimate  enter- 
tainment of  the  stage.40  As  for  the  structure  of  tragedy, 
Dennis  accepted  the  rules  for  the  formation  of  plot  and  char- 
acters already  noted  in  connection  with  the  epic.  Like 
Rapin41  he  emphasized  the  importance  of  action  in  the  plot,  de- 
claring42 that  through  action  alone  can  the  spectator  be  inter- 
ested and  pleased  and  so  instructed.  He  likewise  maintained43 
that  it  is  perfectly  proper  for  the  dramatist  to  represent  vicious 
characters  and  to  place  low  and  vulgar  sentiments  in  their 
mouths,  but  that  such  is  to  be  done  only  to  expose  them  finally 
to  ridicule. 

Of  the  two  great  types  of  the  drama  Dennis  considered 
tragedy  as  more  pleasing  and  instructive  than  comedy,  because 
it  moves  the  greater  emotions.44  It  is  also  greater  in  that  it 
represents  the  things  that  are  enduring,  "the  violent  passions 
which  are  the  same  in  all  ages ;  "45  while  comedy  is  largely 

38  "  The  world  is  not  agreed  which  is  the  nobler  poem :  Plato  and  Bossu 
prefer  the  former   [the  epic]  ;  Aristotle  and  Dacier  declare  for  Tragedy." 
Epist.  Ded.  to   Rymer's  Short  View  of  Tragedy,  p.  2. 

39  Dennis's    Works,    II,    424. 

40  Letter  to  George  Doddington,  prefatory  to  the  Stage  Defended,   1726. 
So   valuable  to  the  established  government  did  Dennis  believe  these  dra- 
matic  entertainments,  by   bringing  men  together   and  pleasing  them   when 
they  were  assembled,  that  he  here  suggested  that  the  ministry  should  be- 
stow two  annual  prizes  of    £  200  each,  the  one  for  comedy  and  the  other 
for  tragedy,   "  to  be  given  besides  the  ordinary  profits   of  the  theatre,   to 
him  who  shall  perform  best  in  each  of  them,  which  is  to  be  decided  by 
Judges   appointed   on   purpose,   and   sworn   to   decide   impartially." 

41  Rymer's   translation   of   Rapin's   Reflections,   p.    115. 

43  Large  Account  of  Taste,  prefatory  to  the  Comical  Gallant. 
43  Ibid. 

**  Works,  II,  422.     Cf.  Advancement  and  Reformation,  p.   55. 
45  Remarks   on    the   Conscious  Lovers,   p.    18. 


168 

confined,  he  believed  with  Moliere,  to  portraying  contemporary 
manners  and  foibles.  In  tragedy  the  plot  or  fable  is  of  much 
more  importance  than  in  comedy ;  in  fact,  Dennis  insisted,  it  is 
of  supreme  moment,46  for  through  it  tragedy  inculcates  the 
lesson  of  its  basic  moral  idea.  In  explaining  the  manner  in 
which  tragedy  teaches  its  lessons  through  presenting  moral 
ideas  which  arouse  pity  and  terror,  Dennis  accepted  the  views 
of  Dacier,  who,  he  said,47  "  has  given  a  very  sensible  account : 

"  For  as  the  Humours  in  some  distempered  body  are  rais'd  in  order  to 
the  evacuating  of  that  which  is  repugnant  or  peccant  in  them ;  so  Tragedy 
excites  Compassion  and  Terror  to  the  same  end :  For  the  Play  being  over, 
the  audience  becomes  serene  again  and  is  less  likely  to  be  mov'd  by  the 
common  accidents  of  life,  after  it  has  seen  the  deplorable  Calamities  of 
Heroes  and  Sovereign  Princes." 

Though  Dennis  believed  that  an  unfortunate  ending  of  a 
tragedy  is  more  likely  to  arouse  terror  and  compassion  than  a 
happy  one,  still  he  acknowledged  the  legitimacy  of  the  latter48 
and  took  Steele  to  task  for  failing  to  distinguish  between  the 
nature  of  this  type  of  play  and  that  of  comedy.  Dennis  also 
recognized  a  distinction  between  serious  plays  with  a  happy 
ending  and  tragi-comedy.  In  discussing  Addison's  condem- 
nation of  the  latter  form  he  stated49  that  perhaps  he  no  more 
approves  of  it  than  does  the  "  Spectator,"  but  that  several  of 
the  plays  held  up  for  admiration  by  that  writer  are  really 
tragi-comedies.  And  he  adds  that  the  "  Spectator  "  is  "  vilely 
mistaken  if  he  thinks  Tragi-Comedy  is  the  Growth  of  our 
English  Theatres." 

Another  matter  of  interest  in  connection  with  Dennis's  con- 
ceptions of  tragedy  is  his  attitude  toward  the  tendency  of  his 
times  to  include  romantic  love  among  the  passions  proper  for 
this  form  of  drama.  Against  'this  extension  Rapin  took  a 
stand  in  his  commentaries  upon  Aristotle;  and  his  views  were 
supported  by  his  translator,  Rymer.  Among  the  other  critics 

48  Cf.  Rymer's  Tragedies  of  the  Last  Age,  p.  4. 

47  Impartial  Critick,  in  Spingarn's  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury,   III,    184. 

48  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers,  p.   17. 

49  Original  Letters,  p.  419.     Cf.  Hedelin,  Whole  Art  of  the  Stage,  London, 
1684,  II,  145-146. 


169 

of  the  time  St.  fivremond  was  the  most  violent  opponent  to 
the  use  of  love  as  the  chief  emotion  in  tragedy.  The  question 
long  remained  among  the  mooted  points  of  criticism,  and  in 
the  second  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  Voltaire,  Thom- 
son, and  others  took  it  up.  Dennis's  earlier  views  are  in  favor  of 
the  extension.  To  him  Gildon  directed  his  Vindication  of  Love 
in  Tragedies;™  and  in  the  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  1696, 
our  critic  stated  his  position  thus : 

"  love,  of  all  passions,  is  the  one  whose  excess  we  most  willingly  own : 
And  therefore  Mr.  Rymer,  who  would  have  banished  it  from  the  Eng- 
lish stage,  would  deprive  our  Poets  of  the  secret  means  of  going  to  the 
Heart  of  the  Audience.  For  upon  reflection  we  shall  certainly  find  that 
the  Characters  in  our  Tragedies,  which  melt  us  most,  are  those  whose  Mis- 
fortunes are  brought  about  by  the  extraordinary  Force  of  Love." 

Dennis  early  recognized,51  however,  that  the  love  motive  would 
have  been  unsuited  to  the  Greek  drama ;  and  the  influence  upon 
him  of  St.  fivremond,  particularly  noticeable  in  the  last  decade 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  reenforced  both  by  his  ardent 
desire  to  direct  the  drama  to  patriotic  ends  and  by  his  growing 
aversion  to  rhyme,52  may  well  be  considered  responsible  for  a 
change  in  his  attitude.  In  the  Large  Account  of  Taste,  1702, 
Dennis  took  the  position  that  love  is  not  a  very  elevated  or 
noble  motive  in  a  drama,  and  that  its  frequent  representation 
on  the  stage  may  become  dangerous  to  the  public.  Humor,53 
he  affirmed,54  gives  a  greater  body  to  comedy  than  does  love, 
for  it  comprises  many  passions  of  which  love  is  but  one ;  and 
in  confirmation  of  his  assertion  he  cited  the  plays  of  Moliere, 
which  contain  but  little  love  making.  In  his  opposition  to  what 
he  considered  an  overemphasis  of  love  on  the  stage,  however, 
Dennis  did  not  banish  the  motive  entirely  from  his  own  plays, 
for  he  felt  that  would  shock  the  audience;  but  he  repre- 

50  In  his  Letters  and  Essays  on  Several  Subjects,  1694. 

61  Prefatory  Letter  to  the  Impartial  Critick,  1693. 

62 "  it  [rhyme]  has  something  effeminating  in  its  jingling  Nature,  and 
emasculates  our  English  Verse,  and  consequently  is  unfit  for  the  Greater 
Poetry.  English  Tragedies  that  have  been  writ  in  Rime,  most  of  them 
rowl  upon  Love."  Preface  to  Britannia  Triuw,phans,  1704. 

53  For  a  discussion  of  Dennis's  use  of  the  term  see  infra,  p.  171. 

54  Cf.  St.  fivremond's  Oeuvres  Meslees,  Paris,  1689,  p.  565. 


170 

sented  it  as  contending  with  other  passions,  such  as  friendship 
and  duty,  and  conquered  by  them.  But  his  opposition  to  love 
as  a  dramatic  motive  was  tempered  by  his  feeling  that  the 
passion  might  be  used  for  reclaiming  the  audience  from  things 
more  offensive;  and  in  his  last  years  he  stated  his  belief55  that 
"  if  love  was  represented  as  constrained,  or  punished  when 
unlawful,  it  could  bring  no  ill  consequence." 

Dennis's  conceptions  of  comedy,  the  other  great  type  of 
drama,  were  in  the  main  the  current  neo-classical  ones, 
founded  on  the  precepts  and  practice  of  Jonson  and  strength- 
ened by  those  of  the  French  dramatists.  The  great  disorders, 
he  maintained,56  are  caused  by  the  great  passions  and  are  to  be 
punished  by  tragedy  ;5T  while  the  little  disquietudes,  the  follies, 
not  the  crimes,  should  fall  to  comedy.  The  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  this  form  of  drama,  he  went  on,  is  the  ridicu- 
lum,  which  he  interpreted  with  his  time  as  "laughter  mixed 
with  contempt  and  disapprobation."58  While  the  ridiculum 
should  mark  the  fable  of  a  comedy,  as  Wycherley  had  em- 
ployed it,59  most  writers  have  used  it  to  best  advantage  in  their 
characters.  With  the  sentimental  comedy,  such  as  Steele's, 
Dennis  had,  as  might  be  imagined,  but  little  patience,  and  he 
denied  flatly  the  name  of  comedy  to  these  plays,  save  as  the 
passions  represented  tended  to  excite  ridicule.60  He  also  main- 
tained that  every  true  comedy,  like  every  true  tragedy  is  a 
fable,  and  that  its  characters  are  universal  and  allegorical,  a 
view  which  he  supported  by  the  authority  of  Moliere.61  Fol- 
lowing Jonson,  Dennis  declared  that  to  please  and  thus  to 
instruct  the  public  the  comic  poet  must  draw  his  characters 
from  contemporary  life  and  again  he  confirmed  his  position 
by  citing  the  authority  of  Moliere.62  Unlike  many  of  his  con- 

55  Stage  Defended,  pp.  20-21. 

56  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.  56. 

67  Cf.   Corneille's  Oeuvres,  Paris,   1862,   II,   222. 

68  Literary   Criticism  in   the  Renaissance,  p.   289. 

69  Miscellaneous   Tracts,  p.   324. 

60  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers,  pp.  18,  19.  . 

61  La  Critique  de  I'&cole  des  Femmes.     Cf.  the  preface  to  Dryden's  Even- 
ing's Love,  Ker,  I,   137. 

62  As  an   evidence  of  Moliere's  popularity  in   England  in   Dennis's  time 
may  be  cited  the  inclusion  of  his  life  and  plays  by  Jacob  in  the  Poetical 


171 

temporaries  Dennis  did  not  hold  that  comedy  must  concern 
itself  exclusively  with  the  lower  classes  oj  society.  In  his 
Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers  and  elsewhere  he  takes  the 
ground  that  comedy  will  draw  its  characters  for  the  most  part 
from  common  life,  since  the  people  in  that  class  possess  less 
self  suppression  and  show  their  different  humors  more  plainly, 
but  that  those  of  higher  stations  may  well  be  used  to  give 
variety  to  the  play.  Furthermore,  a  lord  may  stand  in  as 
much  need  of  correction  as  does  his  humbler  brother,  and  "a 
Lord  can  be  corrected  nowhere  but  on  the  Stage."63 

As  for  humor,  one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  comedy, 
Dennis  was  much  interested  in  considering  its  nature64  and 
defined  it  as  "  a  subordinate  passion  expressed  in  a  peculiar 
manner."  Thus,  for  example,  the  passion  of  love  in  its  lesser 
intensity  and  exaggerated  expression  becomes  a  humor. 

Register,  or  the  Lives  and  Characters  of  All  the  English  Poets,  1719.  In 
defending  this  inclusion  Jacob  says :  "  All  the  comedies  of  Monsieur  Mo- 
liere being  now  translated  and  deservedly  esteem'd,  I  think  it  not  improper 
in  this  place  to  give  the  Reader  some  Account  of  the  Author  and  his 
Writings"  (I,  292).  In  the  account  of  Moliere  Jacob  includes  a  list  of  his 
plays  with  the  principal  imitations  or  adaptations  of  them  in  England. 
This  list  contains  the  names  of  many  distinguished  dramatists,  including 
Dryden,  Congreve,  Wycherley,  Gibber,  and  Steele.  St.  Evremond  had 
been  partly  responsible  for  this  popularity  of  Moliere  and  for  the  com- 
monly accepted  view  that  this  dramatist  "  possessed  the  true  spirit  of  com- 
edy "  (St.  fivremond,  Oeuvres  Meslees,  Paris,  1689,  p.  563).  Dennis  ac- 
cepted this  view  of  Moliere,  with  whose  works  he  gained  a  very  thorough 
acquaintance.  His  judgment  of  this  dramatist  is  well  represented  by  his 
criticism  of  Gibber's  Non-juror,  an  adaptation  of  Tartuffe :  "  I  soon  found 
that  there  was  little  in  the  English  Comedy  of  the  Beauties  of  Moliere. 
For  Moliere's  Characters  in  his  Tartuffe  are  Masterpieces,  mark'd,  dis- 
tinguish'd,  glowing,  bold,  touch'd  with  a  fine  yet  daring  Hand ;  all  of 
them  stamp'd  with  a  double  Stamp,  the  one  from  Art  and  the  other  from 
Nature:  No  Phantoms  but  Real  Persons,  such  as  Nature  produces  in  all 
Ages,  and  Custom  fashions  in  ours.  His  Dialogue,  too,  is  lively,  graceful, 
easie,  strong,  adapted  to  the  Occasion,  adapted  to  the  Characters.  In 
short,  'tis  by  this  Comedy  and  by  the  Misanthrope  that  Moliere  perhaps 
has  born  away  the  prize  of  Comedy  from  all  Persons  in  all  Ages,  except 
Ben  Jonson  alone."  Original  Letters,  p.  141. 

63  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.   56. 

M  See  his  Large  Account  of  Taste,  on  which  the  above  paragraph  is 
based. 


172 

Humor  he  considered  far  better  for  comedy  than  wit,  because 
it  is  the  outgrowth  of  character,  while  wit  is  an  excrescence  of 
character  or  fitted  to  it  by  force.  "  Wit,"  he  maintained,  "  is 
the  effect  of  the  Fancy,  and  Humour  the  work  of  the  Imagina- 
tion." Furthermore,  humor  gives  a  body  to  the  play,  both 
through  increasing  the  robustness  of  the  dramatis  personae 
and  by  demanding  greater  action  than  does  wit  in  the  repre- 
sentation. 

In  his  attitude  toward  many  of  the  questions  concerning  the 
structure  of  comedy  and  tragedy  Dennis  took  a  much  more 
liberal  view  than  did  many  of  his  contemporaries.  The  unities, 
for  example,  never  became  with  him  laws  inviolable  ;  but  rather, 
as  with  Dryden,  they  were  lesser  beauties  which  might  be  set 
aside  for  attaining  those  greater.  In  glancing  briefly  at  the 
history  of  the  unities  in  England  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
they  had  been  introduced  by  Sidney,65  but  that  they  had  failed 
to  receive  any  close  application  till  nearly  seventy-five  years 
later.66  Jonson,  who  contended  less  strongly  for  the  unities 
than  did  Sidney,  laid  greatest  emphasis  upon  that  of 
action.  In  the  prologue  to  Volpone,  however,  he  declared  that 
he  had  observed  the  laws  of  time,  place,  and  persons.67  By 
many  of  the  critics  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
Corneille  was  held  responsible  as  the  rule  maker,68  and  this 
conception  was  frequently  restated  down  to  the  time  of  Dr. 
Johnson.  Dryden,  who  was  a  fairly  close  student  of  Cor- 
neille, stood  against  any  servile  observance  of  the  unities,  which 
he  called  "the  mechanic  beauties."  From  him  the  name  and 
conception  passed  on  to  Dennis.69  In  opposing  the  unity  of 
place  Dryden  declared70  that  the  "  imagination  of  the  audience 
aided  by  the  words  and  the  painted  scenes,  may  suppose  the 

65  Literary  Criticism  in  the  Renaissance,  p.  90;  p.  291. 

68  Ibid.,    p.    291. 

6TCf.  ibid.,  p.  292. 

68  Supra,  p.  116  n.  Also  Johnson's  Preface  to  his  Edition  of  Shakes- 
peare, 1765,  xxv. 

69Ker,  I,  212  and  Note.  Cf.  Rapin's  Reflections,  pt.  i,  see.  21,  and  Crit- 
ical Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  II,  345. 

70  Works,    XV,    297. 


173 

stage  ...  to  be  sometimes  one  place  and  sometimes  another/' 
Nor  did  he  consider  it  essential  to  maintain  a  single  plot 
throughout  a  play,  since  the  English  "love  variety  more  than 
any  other  nation,  and  will  not  be  pleased  without  it."71 

Practically  all  these  views  of  Dryden's  descended  to  Dennis, 
whose  first-latest,  against  a  strict  observance  of  the  unities 
appeared  in  the  third  dialogue  of  the  Impartial  Critick,  1693, 
where  he  condemned  the  practice  of  Racine.  In  his  own  plays, 
however,  Dennis  sailed  so  close  to  the  shore  of  conformity  that 
his  "performances"  were  frequently  characterized  as  "per- 
fectly regular."  Possibly  the  example  and  influence  of  Con- 
greve,  who  was  regarded  very  highly  by  Dennis  during  the 
closing  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  may  have  held  him 
more  closely  to  an  observance  of  the  rules ;  but  whatever  may 
have  been  the  cause,  Dennis  rather  plumed  himself  on  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  observed  the  unities  in  A  Plot  and  No 
Plot,12  1697,  which,  he  asserted,  "  is  perhaps  the  most  regular 
of  our  low  comedies."  Of  Rinaldo  and  Armida  he  stated  that 
the  action  is  decent,  that  it  observes  the  unities,  and  that  with 
the  exception  of  the  machines  it  is  reasonable.  In  the  former 
play,  however,  he  defended  his  breach  of  the  unity  of  place 
and  declared  that  regularity  without  diversion  counts  for  little. 

But  Dennis's  best  known  utterances  regarding  the  unities  are 
those  in  his  Remarks  upon  Cato,  which  have  brought  him  the 
approval  of  critics  from  Johnson  to  Lowell.  In  discussing 
Addison's  adherence  to  the  unities  of  time  and  place  in  that 
popular  play,  Dennis  declared73  that  these  "are  Mechanic 
Rules,  which  if  they  are  observed  with  Judgment,  strengthen 
the  Reasonableness  of  the  Incidents,  heighten  the  probability 
of  the  Action,  promote  the  agreeable  Deceit  of  the  Represen- 
tation, and  add  Clearness,  Grace,  and  Comliness  to  it.  But  if 
they  are  practiced  without  discretion,  they  render  the  action 
more  improbable,  and  the  representation  more  absurd."  Dennis 
then  proceeded  to  show  how  the  strict  observance  in  Addison's 
Cato  of  the  unities  of  time  and  place  ridiculously  crowded  love- 

71  Dedication  to  Tyrannic  Love. 

72  Preface. 


174 

making  and  treason  upon  each  other  and  forced  the  conspira- 
tors to  form  their  plans  against  Cato  in  his  own  great  public 
hall.74  The  love-making  of  the  children  on  the  day  big  with 
their  father's  fate,  Dennis  contended,75  destroys  the  unity  of 
action,  which  he  regarded  as  a  much  more  serious  fault  than 
the  breach  of  the  other  two. 

Much  the  same  attitude  is  manifested  in  Dennis's  criticism 
of  Shakspere.  Though  he  objected  to  Shakspere's  "duplicity 
or  triplicity  of  plot,"  he  justified  by  common  sense  the  Eliza- 
bethan's violation  of  the  unity  of  time.  Furthermore,  while  he 
disapproved  such  changes  of  place  as  that  in  Othello,  "which 
begins  in  Europe  and  ends  in  Asia,"  he  was  much  more  severe 
with  those  plays  "in  which  the  Unity  of  Place  is  preserved, 
sometimes  by  whimsical  comic  Absurdities,  and  sometimes  by 
dreadful  and  prodigious  Extravagancies."76  In  his  later  utter- 
ances Dennis  agreed  with  Gildon  that  the  unity  of  action  is 
essential,  and  that  the  others  are  not.  This  position  was  the 
result  of  his  general  attitude  toward  the  construction  of  a  play: 
a  single  moral  idea  at  the  basis  of  a  play  demanded  that  the 
action  should  be  single. 

Against  the  attempt  to  restore  to  the  drama  the  chorus  of 
the  Greeks,  which  was  urged  as  tending  to  confirm  the  obser- 
vance of  the  unity  of  place,  Dennis  uttered,  as  has  been  noticed, 
a  sharp  protest.  Aristotle  had  maintained  that  the  chorus 
"  should  be  an  integral  part  of  the  whole  "  and  should  share  in 
the  action.  Late  in  the  seventeenth  century  Racine  took  up  the 
idea  and  used  a  chorus  in  several  of  his  plays.  Dacier,  in  his 
remarks  on  Aristotle,  advocated  its  adoption ;  and  led  largely  by 
his  authority,  Rymer  introduced  a  chorus  into  his  drama, 
Edgar,  and  defended  the  practice  in  his  Short  View  of  Tragedy, 
1693,  declaring  that  the  chorus  is  the  basis  of  all  verisimilitude 
in  tragedy.  He  further  maintained  that  the  chorus  is  neces- 
sary to  mark  the  intervals  of  the  acts  and  to  preserve  the  unity 
of  place,  which  is  destroyed  by  playing  the  violins  between  the 

7*  Professor  Ker  has1  noticed  (I,  xlix)  that  Dennis's  arguments  against 
I  the  strict  observance  of  the  unity  of  place  are  practically  a  repetition  of 
Ithose  of  Neander  in  the  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy. 

75  p.  12. 

76  Original  Letters,  pp.  73  ff. 


175 

acts.  Though  Milton's  influence  had  been  cast  in  favor  of  this 
innovation,  Dennis  strongly  opposed  such  a  step.  He  declared77 
that  the  chorus  was  effective  among  the  Greeks  "  because  it  was 
adapted  to  the  Religion  and  the  Temper  of  the  People  .  .  .  but 
we  have  nothing  in  our  Religion  and  Manners  by  which  we  are 
able  to  defend  it  ...  it  ought  certainly  to  be  banished  from 
our  Stage."  Dennis  proceeded  to  show  that  Racine  had 
restored  the  chorus  because  he  had  written  for  a  house  of 
women  to  act,  that  the  chorus  is  not  necessary  for  the  imitation 
which  Aristotle  had  declared  the  great  characteristic  of  tragedy, 
that  its  use  led  to  absurdities,  and  that  it  is  as  unreasonable 
for  a  king  to  leave  the  stage  for  the  chorus  to  entertain  the 
audience  as  for  him  to  make  way  for  the  violins. 

"  'Tis  not  the  tagging  of  the  act  with  a  chorus,"  he  declared,  "  that 
makes  a  Tragedy  one  body,  but  the  Unity  of  the  Action;  and  for  my 
part  I  cannot  conceive  but  that  the  parts  are  sufficiently  united  when  they 
have  a  beginning,  middle,  and  end,  which  have  a  mutual,  necessary  and 
immediate  connection." 

In  his  classification  of  the  greater  poetry  Dennis  included  one 
other  type,  the  ode,  or  as  he  more  frequently  called  it,  "the 
Pindarick."  His  interest  in  this  sort  of  verse  was  doubtless 
fostered  by  his  theory  of  the  relation  of  religion  and  poetry, 
and  in  all  probability  the  theory,  in  its  turn,  furthered  his 
liking  for  the  ode.  For  the  neo-classicists  this  was  the  form  in 
which  poetry  might  rise  from  the  earth.  Mulgrave  went  so 
far  as  to  declare  that  in  the  ode  judgment  yields  and  fancy 
governs ;  but  Dennis  rather  held  with  Boileau  that  "  Chez  elle 
un  beau  desordre  est  un  effet  de  1'art"78 — that  there  is  a  cer- 
tain regularity  in  the  wildness,  and  that  the  disorders  are 
studied.  In  the  preface  to  the  Court  of  Death,  1695,  which 
contains  his  longest  discussion  of  the  nature  of  the  ode,  Dennis 
quotes  at  length  "the  famous  Rapin,"  with  whom  he  agrees 
that  "the  Ode  ought  to  have  as  much  boldness,  elevation, 
and  majesty  as  Epic  poetry  itself;  but  then  it  is  certain  (be- 
cause of  its  brevity)  that  it  ought  to  have  more  vehemence, 
more  transport,  more  enthusiasm."  Pindar's  digressions, 

77  Prefatory  letter  to  the  Impartial  Critick.     See   also   Dryden's   Works, 
XVII,  324- 

78  Art  Poetique,  II,  72. 


176 

Dennis  further  affirmed,  are  studied  and  really  orderly,  and  his 
language  is  so  bold  that  the  English  tongue  is  not  capable  of 
imitating  some  of  his  figures.  With  Congreve79  Dennis  as- 
serted that  some  of  Cowley's  odes  show  a  reprehensible  irregu- 
larity of  form;  though  our  critic  never  distinguished  between 
the  "  true  "  and  the  Cowleyan  Pindaric,  and  in  his  own  writings 
employed  the  latter  form.  These  ideas  of  the  ode  did  not 
differ  very  materially  from  the  commonly  accepted  theory  of 
the  time  ;80  it  was  only  when  Dennis  attempted  to  put  his  beliefs 
into  practice  that  he  drew  upon  himself,  as  he  acknowledged,81 
charges  of  "horrible  extravagances." 

For  any  lyric  short  of  the  ode  Dennis  manifested  the  usual 
neo-classical  indifference.  Indeed  he  went  so  far  in  his  later 
years  as  to  declare  it  questionable  whether  "  anything  but  great 
and  exalted  poetry  is  properly  poetry."  In  his  earlier  days, 
however,  as  a  man  of  the  town,  he  evinced  a  considerable  in- 
terest in  satire  and  burlesque,  which  he  never  quite  lost.  About 
the  time  of  Dennis's  greatest  attention  to  satire,  Dryden  was 
translating  Juvenal,  and  the  two  critics  probably  discussed 
together  the  nature  of  that  genre.  In  his  translation,  however, 
Dryden  gave  no  great  consideration  to  the  characteristics  of 
the  type,  declaring  himself  satisfied  "to  discover  some  of  the 
hidden  beauties  in  the  design  of  the  ancients."  With  Dacier82 
Dryden  maintained  that  the  chief  aim  of  satire  should  be  to 
instruct,  a  belief  which  was  commonly  repeated,  as  by  Black- 
more  and  Shaftsbury.  Dennis  asserted83  that  the  great  pur- 
pose of  satire  is  "  the  unmasking  of  hypocrites,"  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  affirm  that  to  accomplish  this  end  the  poet  might 
enter  into  the  concerns  of  private  life.  He  disapproved84  of 

79  Works  of  William  Congreve,  1761,  III,  435. 

80  Cf.   Boileau,   Oeuvres,   Paris,    1819,   II,    74.     One  passage,   however,   in 
the  preface  to  the  Court  of  Death  represents   Dennis's  more  enthusiastic 
judgment :  "  Pindar,  rais'd  by  the  influence  of  divine,  even  above  his  own 
exalted  genius ;  grows  vehement,  swells,  and  ferments  with  fury,  then  pre- 
cipitately flows  with  a  mighty  sound,  and  knows  no  bounds  to  his  impetuous 
course." 

81  Preface  to  the  Court  of  Death. 

82  Saintsbury's  History   of  Criticism,   II,   385. 
88  Theatre,   II,   448. 

84  Original  Letters,  p.  430. 


177 

Dryden's  preference  of  Juvenal  to  Horace,  declaring  that  as 
the  former's  satire  partook  of  the  nature  of  tragedy,  and  the 
latter's  of  that  of  comedy,  they  are  so  different  as  to  render 
comparison  impossible.  Elsewhere  he  maintained85  that 
Horace  is  characterized  by  pleasantry  and  Juvenal  by  force, 
and  that  Boileau  had  combined  these  qualities  so  admirably  that 
he  had  surpassed  both  of  the  Romans. 

To  the  consideration  of  burlesque,  which  he  regarded  as  a 
kind  of  satire,  Dennis  devoted  a  part  of  the  preface  to  the  Mis- 
cellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose,  1693.  Through  the  influence  of 
Scarron  in  France  and  of  Butler  in  England  that  form  monop- 
olized for  a  time  the  attention  of  the  two  nations.  Dennis's 
admiration  for  Hudibras  led  him  to  maintain  against  the 
authority  of  Boileau  and  of  Dryden  that  Butler's  burlesque  was 
worthy  of  a  gentleman's  pen,  because  it  used  extravagance 
only  "to  give  Reason  the  more  luster,"  and  that  it  had  been 
written  with  a  just  design.  Against  Dryden's  contention  that 
the  verse  of  Hudibras  is  too  cramping,  Dennis  cited  his  master's 
own  defense  of  the  octosyllabic  for  the  Pindaric  and  declared 
that  though  the  meter  is  suited  to  exalted  poetry,  it  is  much 
better  adapted  to  the  humbler  burlesque.  Dennis  also  de- 
fended the  double  and  treble  rhymes  to  which  Dryden  ob- 
jected and  affirmed  that  they  were  "  as  peculiarly  becoming  to  a 
Jest,  as  a  rougish  Leer,  or  a  comical  tone  of  Voice."86  Bur- 
lesque, however,  received  its  death  blow  from  Boileau's  con- 
demnation of  the  form,  and  with  the  first  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century  it  gave  way  to  the  mock  heroic.  Dennis's 
growing  literalmindedness  clashed  with  the  nature  of  this  new 
form ;  and  he  violently,  though  not  very  successfully,  opposed  it 
in  his  Remarks  on  the  Rape  of  the  Lock,  1729. 

One  other  poetical  genre  remains  to  be  discussed,  the  ballad, 

85  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.   57. 

88  "  To  Latinize  a  pun,  we  must  seek  a  pun  in  Latin  that  will  answer  to 
it;  and  to  give  an  idea  of  the  double  endings  of  Hudibras,  we  must  have 
recourse  to  a  similar  practice  in  the  old  monkish  doggerel.  Dennis,  the 
fiercest  oppunger  of  puns  in  ancient  or  modern  times,  professed  himself 
highly  tickled  with  the  "  a  stick "  chiming  to  "  ecclesiastic."  Yet  what 
was  this  but  a  specimen  of  pun,  a  verbal  consonance."  Lamb's  Popular 
Fallicies,  Works,  Ainger  ed.,  Ill,  353. 
13 


178 

which  we  may  insist  upon  calling  a  literary  type,  even  if  Dennis 
would  have  denied  it  the  honor.  His  single  utterance  concern- 
ing the  ballad  appears  in  his  letter  to  Henry  Cromwell,  which 
in  its  published  form87  bears  the  heading  Of  Simplicity  in 
Poetical  Composition,  in  Remarks  on  the  foth  Spectator. 
Though  this  reply  to  Addison  was  written  when  Dennis  was 
quarreling  with  the  "  Spectator,"  it  stands  in  thorough  agree- 
ment with  the  critic's  general  conception  of  the  nature  of 
poetry.  Starting  from  his  customary  thesis  that  poetry  is  a 
means  of  exciting  passion,  Dennis  declared  that  it  accomplishes 
its  end  through  the  use  of  figurative  language  and  of  harmony, 
and  that  these  qualities  are  lacking  in  Chevy  Chase,  which 
Addison  had  praised.  To  prove  figurative  language  essential 
to  passion,  Dennis  adduced  the  authority  of  Horace,  Rapin,  and 
Boileau;  and  to  show  the  utter  lack  of  harmony  in  this  par- 
ticular ballad,  he  compared  in  Rymer-like  fashion  some  of  its 
passages  with  others  from  Vergil,  dealing  with  similar  sub- 
jects. In  so  doing  he  quite  forgot  what  he  himself  had  said 
about  the  impossibility  of  comparing  works  different  in  their 
natures.  To  Addison's  argument  for  the  ballads  as  pleasing 
all  classes  of  people,  Dennis  retorted  that  the  rabble  might 
judge  things  debased,  but  that  whoever  would  give  sentence 
upon  human  nature  exalted,  must  have  education. 

Certain  other  classes,  or  types,  Dennis  mentioned  incident- 
ally. He  praised  Ambrose  Philips  for  excelling  all  con- 
temporaries in  writing  pastorals,  though  he  never  discussed 
the  nature  of  that  type.  At  times,  too,  Dennis  seems  to  have 
caught  the  idea  that  the  novel88  might  be  capable  of  something 
of  that  art  which  he  ordinarily  conceived  as  characteristic  of 
certain  classes  of  poetry  only.  Once  he  went  so  far  as  to  con- 
sider and  even  to  outline  a  discussion  of  the  letter  as  a  literary 
type,  stating  in  the  preface  to  his  Letters  upon  Several  Occa- 
sions, 1696: 

87  Original  Letters,  p.    166. 

88  In  his  Remarks  upon  Cato,  p.  16,  Dennis  states:  "There  is  not  with  all 
its  Improbability  in  this  Tragedy  any  of  that  Art  and  Contrivance,  which  is 
to  be  found  in  an  entertaining  Romance  or  an  agreeable  Novel ;  that  Art  and 
Contrivance  by  which  their  Authors  excite  our  Curiosity,  and  cause  those 
eager  longings  in  their  Readers  to  know  the  events  of  things." 


179 

"  I  design  d  in  the  first  place  to  have  said  something  of  the  Nature  and 
of  the  end  of  a  Letter,  and  thought  to  have  prov'd  that  the  Invention  of 
it  was  to  supply  Conversation,  and  not  to  imitate  it,  for  that  nothing  but 
the  Dialogue  was  capable  of  doing  that ;  from  whence  I  have  drawn  this 
Conclusion,  that  the  Style  of  a  Letter  was  neither  to  come  quite  up  to  that 
of  Conversation,  nor  yet  to  keep  at  too  great  a  distance  from  it.  After 
that  I  determin'd  to  shew  that  all  Conversation  is  not  familiar;  that  it 
may  be  Ceremonious,  that  it  may  be  Grave,  nay,  that  it  may  be  Sublime, 
or  that  Tragedy  must  be  allow'd  to  be  out  of  Nature :  that  if  the  Sublime 
were  easy  and  unconstrain'd,  it  might  be  as  consistent  with  the  Epistolary 
Style,  as  it  was  with  the  Didactique,  that  Voiture  had  admirably  join'd 
in  with  one  of  them,  and  Longinus  with  both.  After  this,  I  resolv'd  to 
have  said  something  of  those  who  had  most  succeeded  in  Letters  amongst 
the  Ancients  and  Moderns,  and  to  have  treated  of  their  Excellencies  and 
their  Defects :  to  have  spoken  more  particularly  of  Cicero  and  Pliny 
amongst  the  Ancients,  and  amongst  the  Moderns  of  Balzac  and  Voiture;  to 
have  shown  that  Cicero  is  too  simple,  and  too  dry,  and  that  Pliny  is  too 
affected,  and  too  refined,  that  one  of  them  has  too  much  Art  in  him,  and 
that  both  of  them  have  too  little  of  Nature.  That  the  elevation  of  Balzac 
was  frequently  forc'd  and  his  Sublime  affected ;  that  his  Thoughts  were 
often  above  his  Subject,  and  his  expression  almost  always  above  his 
Thoughts;  and  that  whatsoever  his  Subjects  were,  his  Style  was  seldom 
alter'd ;  that  Voiture  was  easy  and  unconstrain'd,  and  natural  when  he 
was  most  exalted,  that  he  seldom  endeavour'd  to  be  witty  at  the  expence  of 
right  Reason ;  but  that  his  Thoughts  were  for  the  most  part  true  and 
just,  his  Expression  was  often  defective,  and  that  his  Style  was  too  little 
diversify'd.  That  for  my  own  part,  as  I  came  infinitely  short  of  the 
extraordinary  Qualities  of  these  great  Men,  I  thought  myself  oblig'd  to 
endeavour  the  rather  to  avoid  their  Faults ;  and  that  consequently  I  had 
taken  all  the  care  that  I  could,  not  to  think  out  of  Nature  and  good  Sense,, 
and  neither  to  force  nor  neglect  my  Expression ;  and  that  I  had  always 
taken  care  to  suit  my  Style  to  my  Subject,  whether  it  was  Familiar  or 
Sublime,  or  Didactique ;  and  that  I  had  more  or  less  varied  it  in  every 
Letter." 

We  may  well  regret  that  Dennis  never  undertook  this  pro- 
posed consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  letter;  for  we  cannot 
help  feeling  from  the  outline  just  suggested  that  in  examining 
this  type,  unfettered  by  neo-classical  rules,  his  naturally  acute 
critical  sense  would  have  produced  a  discussion  worthy  to  rank 
with  his  other  pioneer  criticisms.  As  it  was,  he  was  satisfied' 
to  confine  himself  largely  to  the  commonly  accepted  types, 
especially  to  the  epic  and  the  drama,  where  his  respect  for 
authority  and  tradition  came  more  and  more  to  stifle  his  inde- 
pendent critical  thinking.  Through  all  his  later  observations  on 


180 

these  different  literary  genres  may  be  traced  his  esteem  for  the 
type,  and  his  insistence  that  each  poem  should  conform  to  the 
ends  proper  to  that  particular  kind  and  should  excite  the  emo- 
tion characteristic  of  its  own  particular  species. 

VIII 
STYLE  AND  VERSIFICATION 

Dennis's  chance  remarks  upon  style,  which  we  may  now  con- 
sider, resemble  his  more  extended  discussion  of  the  types  in 
that  they  are  largely  in  agreement  with  the  current  demands  for 
decency  and  decorum.  Concerning  prose  style  he  had  little  to 
say  beyond  his  statements  just  quoted  regarding  the  nature  of 
the  letter,  and  his  further  assertions  that  the  writer  must  adapt 
his  manner  to  suit  the  person  addressed,  and  that  didactic  prose 
should  be  "pure,  succinct,  unaffected,  and  grave."1 /JThis  same 
attitude,  but  slightly  altered  to  fit  his  conceptions  of  ve'rse,  is 
evident  in  his  demands  that  poetry  be  "clear,  pure,  easy, 
strong,  noble,  pathetic,  and  harmonious."2  The  first  requisite 
for  securing  these  qualities  is  lofty  ideals,  which  he  endeavored 
to  prove  are  best  supplied  by  religious  subjects.  Among  the 
devices  for  affecting  and  arousing  the  reader,  Dennis  set  a 
great  value  upon  the  writer's  representing  objects  in  motion. 
This  conception  was  due,  perhaps,  to  Rapin's  insistence  upon 
movement  as  contributing  toward  the  exciting  of  passion,3  re- 
enforced  by  Hobbes's  emphasis  of  the  mutation  of  ideas  as 
entirely  the  result  of  motion  in  themV  To  illustrate  his  point 
Dennis  compared  Sternhold's  translation  of  one  of  the  Psalms 
with  a  translation  of  the  same  by  Milton ;  and  he  asserted  that 
the  difference  between  the  two  versions  arose  in  great  measure 
from  the  greater  animation,  or  the  greater  motion,*  evident  in 
Milton. 

\In  maintaining  that  the  language  of  poetry  should  be  figura- 
tive, Dennis  was,  of  course,  simply  following  a*n  Aristotelian 
precept  which  found  a  very  general  acceptance  near  the  close 

1  Impartial  Critick,  in  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  III,  157. 

2  Preface  to  his  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur. 
*  Oeuvres,  1709,  II,  73. 

4  Works,   London,    1740,    I,    390. 


181 

of  the  seventeenth  century.5  "  Great  passions,"  Dennis  main- 
tained,6 "naturally  throw  [the  writer]  upon  Figurative  Lan- 
guage, as  they  must  of  necessity  do  any  Poet  as  long  as  he  con- 
tinues Master  of  them."  He  asserted,7  however,  that  figura- 
tive language  is  not  the  natural  expression  of  the  deepest  stages 
of  grief,  since  "  to  be  Capable  of  making  Similitudes,  it  [the 
mind]  must  be  serene.'^)  He  also  recognized  that  the  figures 
agreeable  to  one  nation  and  language  may  not  be  fitting  to 
another,  that  English,  for  example,  is  incapable  of  some  of  the 
daring  figures  of  Pindar.  TMoreover,  he  repeatedly  took  the 
position  that  such  figures  as  point,  conceit,  and  wit  are  mental 
rather  than  emotional  and  form  no  part  of  true  poetry ;  and  he 
stoutly  contended9  that  they  had  debauched  and  ruined  the 
writings  of  such  poets  as  Denham  and  Waller^ 

As  passion  formed  Dennis's  standard  in  testing  figurative 
language  in  poetry,  so  harmony  was  his  great  criterion  in  judg- 
ing versification.  Such  an  attitude  soon  brought  him  into 
clash  with  the  tendencies  of  the  time,  for  in  that  period  when 
the  heroic  couplet  was  nearly  supreme,  he  stood  as  the  great 
champion  of  unrhymed  verse.  His  position  was,  of  course,  in 
good  measure  the  result  of  his  admiration,  or  better  veneration, 
for  Milton's  practice,  reenforced  by  such  critical  utterances  as 
that  of  the  poet  in  his  condemnation10  of  rhyme  as  the  inven- 

*  E.g.,  Collier's  Defense  of  the  Short  View,  p.  38. 
a  Works,  II,  466. 

7  Preface  to  the  Passion  of  Byblis,  1692. 

8  Cf .    Rymer's    statement   in    his    Tragedies    of    the   Last   Age :    "  Natu- 
rally in  a  great   Passion,   none  have  leisure  to   ramble  for  Comparisons." 

8  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  17.  This  matter  of  the  use  of 
figurative  language  formed  a  favorite  subject  of  eighteenth  century  critical 
debate.  Thomson,  for  example,  was  against  figures  in  tragedy.  Mallet, 
Hill,  Voltaire,  and  others  also  discussed  the  subject. 

10  Preface  to  Paradise  Lost.  The  Critical  Specimen,  Anon.,  1715,  con- 
tains the  following  comment  on  Dennis's  attitude  toward  rhyme :  "  He 
had  never  read  in  Milton  or  any  of  the  Ancients  that  Pegasus  wore  bells, 
upon  which  he  in  a  very  great  Rage  tore  the  Bells  from  his  Hobby  horse — 
and  he  has  rid  him  without  bells  ever  since."  This  comparison  of  rhymes 
to  bells  on  Pegasus  had  doubtless  been  impressed  on  the  public  mind  by 
Andrew  Marvell's  lines  On  Paradise  Lost,  prefixed  to  the  second  edition  of 
Milton's  epic  in  1674: 


182 

tion  of  a  barbarous  age,  "trivial,  and  of  no  true  musical  de- 
light." The  theories  of  Dryden  and  of  Roscommon,  expressed, 
as  Dennis  puts  it,11  "  before  the  beginning  and  at  the  end  of  the 
Essay  on  Translated  Verse,"  also  furnished  support  for  his 
attitude,  even  though  their  practice  generally  agreed  with  the 
prevailing  custom.  Dryden's  position  is  of  especial  interest, 
for  as  early  as  i676,12  he  seems  to  have  tired  of  the  couplet  and 
in  his  later  years  was  in  theory,13  and  to  some  extent  in  prac- 
tice, the  advocate  of  unrhymed  verse. 

How  far  Dennis  was  really  indebted  to  Dryden  for  his  theo- 
ries of  versification,  is  hard  to  determine.  His  early  poem,  the 
Passion  of  Byblis,  1692,  and  his  Miscellanies  are  in  rhyme, 

"  Well  mights!  thou  scorn  thy  readers  to  allure 

With  tinkling  rime,  of  thy  own  sense  secure, 

While   the   Town-Bayes   writes   all   the  while  and  spells, 

And  like  a  pack-horse  tires  without  his  bells." 

With  this  may  be  compared  some  lines  in  Charles  Goodall's  Propitiatory 
Sacrifice  to  the  Ghost  of  J —  M —  by  way  of  Pastoral,  published  in  1689 : 

"  Daphnis  !  the  great  Reformer  of  our  Isle ! 
Daphnis !  the  patron  of  the  Roman  Stile ! 
Who  first  to  sence  converted  Doggerel  Rhimes, 
The  Muses  Bells  took  off,  and  stopt  their  Chimes." 

Through  the  closing  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  Milton's  example 
made  against  the  use  of  rhyme.  Thus  Samuel  Woodford,  in  the  preface 
to  his  Paraphrase  upon  the  Canticles,  1679,  states  that,  "  In  the  next  Age 
Even  our  now  cry'd  up  Blank  Verse  will  look  as  unfashionable,  how  well 
soever  as  a  Novelty  and  upon  his  Credit  who  was  the  Inventor  of  it  here 
may  speed  in  this.  Not  but  that  I  have,  and  always  had,  as  great  an  honour 
for  Mr.  Milton's  Paradise  Lost  as  those  who  admire  him  most."  Again, 
William  Wollaston,  in  his  Design  of  Part  of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes,  1691, 
says :  "  Had  I  been  hardy  enough  like  some  others  (which  too  late  I  wish) 
to  have  broken  a  barbarous  custom  and  freed  myself  from  the  troublesome 
and  modern  bondage  of  Rhyming  (as  Milton  calls  it)  the  Business  which 
now  immediately  follows,  had  been  somewhat  better  than  it  is."  Three 
years  later,  in  answer  to  the  question  "  Whether  rhyme  is  essential  to 
English  Verse?"  the  Athenian  Mercury  replied,  "No,  certainly,  for  none 
will  say  Milton's  Paradise  is  not  Verse,  tho'  he  has  industriously,  and  in 
some  places  to  a  fault  avoided  Rhyme."  The  greater  part  of  this  note  is 
a  restatement  of  quotations  cited  in  Mr.  Havens's  article  on  Seventeenth 
Century  Notices  of  Milton,  in  Englische  Studien,  1909,  pp.  175  ff. 

11  Preface  to   the  Monument,   1702. 

12  Works,  XV,  360. 

13  Works,  XIV,  211. 


183 

though  he  stated  in  the  preface  to  the  former  that  he  was  not 
"so  miserably  mistaken  as  to  think  it  [rhyme]  necessary  for 
Poetry."  "If  rhyming  is  ever  necessary  to  so  strong  and 
masculine  a  language  as  ours,"  he  went  on,  "it  must  be  on 
these  tender  subjects/'14  i.  e.,  the  story  of  Byblis.  After  these 
first  efforts  Dennis  practically  abandoned  the  use  of  the  couplet 
and  persistently  employed  the  unrhymed  forms,  though  recog- 
nizing, as  he  wrote  Steele  in  1720,  that  "  the  harmony  without 
rime  "  had  made  some  of  his  poems  "  less  pleasing  for  the  time 
to  about  a  half  of  [his]  readers."  In  the  preface  to  his  poem 
on  the  death  of  Queen  Anne  he  first  undertook  a  formal  con- 
sideration of  the  subject  of  versification.14*  In  this  discussion 
to  which  he  seems  to  have  devoted  much  thought  and  care,  he 
pointed  out  the  restrictions  under  which  rhyme  places  the 
writer,  that  it  demands  that  the  sense  frequently  be  bent  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  verse,  that  it  conceals  the  want  of  a  fine  ear, 
much  as  the  droning  of  a  bagpipe  conceals  the  imperfections  of 
the  notes,  and  that  it  keeps  a  poor  writer  jogging  on  in  dullness. 
He  blamed  rhyme  chiefly,  however,  as  the  foe  of  harmony  and 
in  his  accusation  advanced  what  he  considered  some  entirely 
new  arguments : 

"  There  are  in  our  English  poets  four  things  which  have  been  thought 
to  enduce  to  Harmony ;  which  are  Number,  Measure,  Cadence,  and  Rime. 
Of  these  the  first  three  consist  of  several  different  Sounds  which  are 
dependent  upon  one  another.  Rime  is  wholly  independent  of  the  other 
three ;  and  consists  in  the  greater  Poetry  of  but  two  sounds,  which  are 
Unisons.  Now  I  appeal  to  all  Masters  of  Music  if  Unisons  can  make  any 
Harmony.  Harmony  is  the  agreement  of  different  Sounds,  and  the  Per- 
fection of  Harmony  is  the  agreement  of  discordant  Sounds  by  the  Media- 
tion of  others.  And  there  is  a  great  deal  of  Chromatic  Harmony  in  Poetry 

14  Possibly  Dennis's  aversion  to  rhyme  was  strengthened  by  Rymer's 
objection  to  its  use  in  tragedy,  as  stated  in  the  "Advertisement"  to  his 
Edgar:  "I  doubted,  indeed,  whether  Rhyme  was  proper  for  Tragedy.  Not 
that  I  thought  it  unnatural;  for  questionless  'tis  more  natural  to  speak  in 
Rhyme,  than  to  speak  English :  this  we  owe  to  the  Nurse,  the  former  to 
the  Poet.  Nor  can  this  be  said  to  be  unnatural,  where  Nature  is  help'd 
and  improv'd.  But  Rhyme  is  rather  sweet  than  grave ;  unless  tempered 
with  so  much  Thought  and  with  such  Pomp  of  Words  as  suits  not  with 
that  Sorrow  and  Lamentation  which  Tragedy  ordinarily  requires." 

14a  Dennis  restated  many  of  the  ideas  of  this  preface  in  his  Short  Essay 
toward  an  English  Prosody,  which  first  appeared  in  the  1722  edition  of 
James  Greenwood's  An  Essay  towards  a  Practical  English  Grammar. 


184 

as  well  as  in  Music.  And  such  particularly  is  a  great  deal  of  Virgil's 
Harmony.  Well  then !  Rime  consisting  of  Unisons  can  have  no  Harmony 
in  itself,  and  being  independent  of  Numbers,  Cadence,  and  Measure  can 
never  promote  the  Harmony  which  they  produce.  And  a  Poet's  constant 
Application  to  Rime  diverts  his  Application,  in  a  good  Degree,  from  Num- 
bers, Measures,  and  Cadence,  and  consequently  is  a  severe  restraint  upon 
the  three  Producers  of  Harmony.  And  as  it  diverts  the  Application  of  the 
Writer,  so  by  alluring  the  Attention  of  Vulgar  Readers,  it  diverts  these 
from  the  other  three." 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  discussion  Dennis  prophesied  that 
before  the  middle  of  the  century  rhyme  would  be  banished  from 
English  poetry. 

fin  judging  the  versification  of  the  great  English  poets  Dennis 
showed  considerable  independence.  True,  he  accepted  the  cur- 
rent opinion  that  Chaucer  had  been  handicapped  by  "  the  rude- 
ness of  his  language,  or  want  of  Ear,  or  want  of  Experience, 
or  perhaps  a  just  Mixture  of  all,"15  and  that  consequently 
Dryden's  revisions  had  been  an  improvement.  But  he  recog- 
nized in  Shakespere  "  the  very  original  of  our  English  Tragical 
Harmony;  that  is,  the  Harmony  of  Blank  Verse,  diversified 
often  by  Dissyllable  and  Trisyllable  Termination.  For  that 
Diversity  distinguishes  it  from  Heroic  Harmony,  and  bringing 
it  nearer  to  common  Use,  makes  it  more  proper  to  gain  Atten- 
tion, and  more  fit  for  Action  and  Dialogue.  Such  verses  we 
make  when  we  are  writing  Prose;  we  make  such  verses  in 
Common  Conversation."1^} 

In  his  earlier  years  Dennis  manifested  much  admiration  for 
Waller's  verse,  and  he  joined  his  contemporaries  in  declaring17 
this  poet  "  the  first  who  used  our  ears  to  the  music  of  a  just 
cadence."  In  his  later  years,  however,  he  showed  less  and  less 
respect  for  Waller,  whom  he  came  to  consider  the  forerunner 
of  Pope.  \Against  Pope,  as  the  great  exponent  of  the  heroic 

15  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  20. 

16  Original  Letters,  p.  373.     Commenting  on  Dennis's  statement,  Johnson 
says  in  the  Preface  to  his  Shakespeare :  "  I  know  not  whether  this  praise 
is   rigorously   just.     The   dyssyllable   termination,    which   the   critic   rightly 
appropriates  to  the  drama,  is  to  be  found  though  not  in  Gorboduc,  which 
is  confessedly  before  our  author ;  yet  in  Hyeronymo,  of  which  the  date  is 
not  certain,  but  which  there  is  reason  to  believe  as  old  as  his  earliest  plays." 

17  Prefatory  Letter  to  the  Impartial  Critick,  1693. 


185 

couplet,  Dennis  directed  his  chief  fulminations  on  that  form  of 
verse,  all  with  a  penetration  that  appeals  strongly  to  those  who 
have  felt  the  couplet  a  "  rocking  horse  "  measure.  In  his  first 
assault  upon  Pope,  in  the  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criti- 
cism, Dennis  declared18  that  the  bard's  numbers  were  without 
cadence  and  variety ;  and  in  some  form  or  other  he  repeated  this 
charge  in  each  of  his  subsequent  attacks.  Thus,  in  the  Remarks 
on  the  Rape  of  the  Lock  Dennis  asserted19  that  Pope's 
Pegasus  is  "  a  battered  Kentish  Jade,  that  neither  ambles,  nor 
paces,  nor  trots,  nor  runs,  but  is  always  on  the  Canterbury ;  and 
as  he  never  mends,  never  slackens  his  Pace,  but  when  he 
stumbles  or  falls." 

In  a  word,  then,  we  may  say  that  Dennis  derived  from  Milton 
a  love  of  blank  verse,  that  in  his  day  he  stood  almost  as  the- 
sole  champion  of  that  form  against  the  heroic  couplet,  that  X 
his  theorizing  concerning  the  nature  of  verse,  while  crude; 
was  decidedly  modern,  and  that,  though  sometimes  prejudiced, 
his  judgment  of  the  versification  of  the  great  English  poets 
shows  a  great  deal  of  insight  and  critical  acumen. 

IX 
His  JUDGMENTS  OF  ENGLISH  WRITERS 

This  same  acuteness  which  characterizes  many  of  Dennis's 
specific  judgments  of  the  versification  of  tlie  English  poets  is  to 
be  found  in  his  criticisms  of  their  xwork  as  a  whole.  What 
Mr.  Saintsbury  has  said  about  Dryden's  specific  judgments 
being  better  than  his  theory  might  also  be  applied  to  Dennis. 
Of  Chaucer  Dennis  had  little  to  say  beyond  the  criticism  of  his 
verse  cited  above.  Late  in  life  the  critic  confessed  that  he 
had  not  read  him  for  many  years.1  For  Spenser,  of  whom  he 
seems  to  have  been  a  fairly  close  student,2  his  admiration  was 

18 "  The  Reader  may  easily  see  that,  through  all  the  Verses  I  have  cited, 
and  'tis  true  of  all  those  I  have  not  cited,  instead  of  a  pleasing  Variety 
of  Numbers,  there  is  nothing  but  a  perpetual  Identity  of  Sound,  an  Eternal 
Monotony.  The  Trumpet  of  Homer,  with  its  loud  and  its  various  Notes, 
is  dwindled  in  Pope's  lips  to  a  Jews  Trump  "  (p.  8). 

19  Preface.     Cf.  his  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Translation  of  Homer,  p.  36. 

1  Daily  Journal,  May  n,  1728. 

2  Works,  II,  453. 


186 

more  profound,  and  his  appreciation  of  him  seems  deeper  and 
truer  than  that  of  Dryden.  Dennis  characterized  the  author 
of  the  Faerie  Queen  as  "  a  powerful  and  unsurpassed  genius  " 
and  placed  it  to  the  shame  of  England  that  he  had  been  allowed 
to  starve.3 

On  the  whole  it  seems  just  to  say  that  Dryden's  appreciation 
of  Shakspere  was  inferior  to  Dennis's.  True,  Dryden  once 
stated  that  Shakspere  "had  a  larger  soul  for  poetry  than  any 
of  our  nation,"  but  his  general  attitude  is  better  represented  by 
his  more  guarded  praise  and  frequent  strictures,  as  in  the 
Defense  of  the  Epilogue.4"  To  the  present  writer  it  also  seems 
plain  that  Dennis  knew  his  Shakspere  the  better,  and  that 
he  made  more  frequent  and  widely  drawn  references  to  him  than 
did  Dryden.  Of  what  have  been  called  the  romantic  comedies, 
our  critic,  in  keeping  with  the  tendencies  of  his  age,  had  little  to 
say.  His  veneration  for  Shakspere,  for  that  is  the  term  he 
frequently  employs,  best  manifested  itself  in  his  appreciation  of 
the  tragedies.  Shakspere  had  a  good  talent  for  comedy,  Dennis 
declared,  but  he  had  a  genius  for  tragedy.6  Indeed  he  was  one 
of  the  greatest  writers  of  tragedy  that  the  world  had  ever 
seen;6  and  had  he  possessed  the  art  of  Sophocles  and  Euri- 
pides, he  would  have  far  surpassed  them.  Great  as  was  his 
admiration  for  the  French  dramatists,  Dennis  declared  that 
there  were  "  several  things  in  Shakespear  superior  to  any- 
thing "  they  had  produced ;  and  in  spite  of  his  staunch  admira- 
tion for  Dryden  and  his  work,  Dennis  acknowledged  that  the 

8  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer,  p.  5. 

* "  Shakespere,  who  many  times  has  written  better  than  any  poet,  in  any 
language,  is  yet  so  far  from  writing  wit  always,  or  expressing  that  wit 
according  to  the  dignity  of  the  subject,  that  he  writes,  in  many  places, 
below  the  dullest  writer  of  ours,  or  any  precedent  age.  Never  did  any 
author  precipitate  himself  from  such  heights  of  thought  to  so  low  expres- 
sions as  he  often  does.  He  is  the  very  Janus  of  poets ;  he  wears  almost 
everywhere  two  faces ;  and  you  have  scarcely  begun  to  admire  the  one, 
ere  you  despise  the  other."  Ker,  I,  172. 

6  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  10.  Cf.  Dryden's  Works,  X, 
412.  Possibly  Dennis  took  the  idea  from  Dryden's  suggestion.  See  Sher- 
wood's Dryden's  Dramatic  Theory  and  Practice,  Boston,  1898,  p.  31.  Rymer, 
however,  held  that  "  Shakespear's  genius  lay  for  Comedy  and  Humour." 
Short  View  of  Tragedy,  p.  156. 

9  Original   Letters,   p.    371. 


187 

dramatic  genius  of  his  master  was  far  inferior  to  that  of 
the  Elizabethan. 

It  was,  however,  for  Shakspere's  innate  ability  and  its  tri- 
umphs that  the  critic  repeatedly  expressed  his  veneration. 
Shakspere's  limitations,  Dennis  believed,  were  chiefly  those  of 
his  age  and  lay  principally  in  his  "duplicity  and  triplicity  of 
plots,"  marring  the  unity  of  action.  As  for  the  dramatist's 
breaches  of  the  unities  of  time  and  place,  he  recognized  that 
they  were  necessary  for  attaining  greater  beauties.  For  his 
character  drawing  Dennis  manifested  the  highest  admiration; 
he  praised  its  justness,  exactness,  and  vividness,  though  he  was 
occasionally  displeased  with  the  anachronisms.  The  senti- 
ments, too,  Dennis  regarded  as  usually  "  noble,  generous,  easy, 
natural,  and  adapted  to  the  persons  using  them."7  Further- 
more, in  spite  of  the  lapse  of  time,  Shakspere's  style  was  fre- 
quently "  simple  tho'  elevated,  graceful  tho'  bold,  and  easie  tho' 
strong."  Dennis  criticized,  however,  the  violation  of  poetic 
justice  and  declared8  that  the  good  and  bad  perish  promiscu- 
ously in  these  plays.  Especially  did  he  condemn  the  ending  of 
Coriolanus,  which  he  "  improved "  to  fit  his  own  ideas. 
Against  the  moral  of  Julius  Caesar  he  was  also  severe  and  sug- 
gested a  better  conclusion.9 

Of  greater  interest,  perhaps,  are  Dennis's  conjectures  as  to 
Shakspere's  classical  attainments.  In  his  third  letter  On  the 
Genius  and  Writings  of  Shakespear,  1712,  the  critic  shrewdly 
maintained  that  the  dramatist  had  possessed  no  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  the  classics,  or  he  would  have  chosen  to  imitate 
Sophocles  or  Euripides  rather  than  Plautus,  whom  he  had 
probably  read  in  translation.10  Then  too,  if  he  had  been  a 

7  Original  Letters,  p.  373. 

*Ibid.,  p.  379- 

9  Ibid.,  p.   391. 

10 "  Dennis's  remarks  upon  Shakspeare,  scattered  through  his  writings, 
are  well  worth  collecting  and  republishing,  as  affording  a  good  insight  into 
the  opinions  about  Shakspeare  current  during  what  may  be  called  the 
first  critical  period.  I  question,  after  all,  if  Dennis  had  not  a  higher  ap- 
preciation of  Shakspeare  than  Farmer.  His  arguments  against  Shaks- 
peare's  scholarship  are  far  more  subtle  and  delicate  than  Farmer's,  and 
not  nearly  so  offensive."  C.  Elliot  Browne,  Notes  and  Queries,  sth  Series, 
Vol.  I,  342. 


188 

classicist,  he  would  have  gone  to  Livy  for  the  material  for 
Coriolanus.^  Dennis  placed  this  ignorance,  however,  not  to 
Shakspere's  discredit  but  to  his  honor ;  for  it  only  added  to  the 
glory  of  the  achievement  of  this  English  author  through  the 
sheer  force  of  his  genius. 

It  is  for  his  exaltation  of  this  genius,  his  historical  attitude 
in  discussing  some  of  the  plays,  and  his  genuine  love  of  them, 
rather  than  for  his  revisions,  that  we  would  remember  Dennis 
in  connection  with  Shakspere.  These  latter  performances 
show  only  too  plainly  the  hand  of  the  workman,  who,  as 
Dennis  himself  puts  it,  "judges  well,  but  cannot  himself  per- 
form/' Falstaff  and  Coriolanus  are  woefully  "  translated  "  in 
their  early  eighteenth  century  garb  and  speech,  though  they 
fared,  perhaps,  not  so  badly  as  did  other  Shaksperian  char- 
acters at  the  hands  of  Dennis's  contemporaries.  While  these 
performances  must,  of  course,  weigh  heavily  in  our  final 
estimate  of  Dennis's  appreciation  of  Shakspere,  we  must  not 
forget  that  too  often  they  have  been  given  entire  consideration, 
and  that  little  or  nothing  has  been  said  on  the  other  side  for 
the  critic  who  in  his  "veneration  for  the  memory  of  Shakes- 
pere "  "  loves  and  admires  his  Charms,  and  makes  them  one 
of  his  chief  Delights,  who  sees  and  reads  him  over  and  over 
and  over  and  still  remains  unsatiated,  and  who  mentions  his 
Faults  for  no  other  Reason  but  to  make  his  Excellence  the 
more  conspicuous."12 

Dennis  ranked  Shakspere's  tragedies  far  above  those  by 
Jonson.  In  fact,  though  Dennis  had  a  high  respect  for  Jonson's 
critical  learning,  especially  for  his  Discoveries,  which  he  occa- 
sionally quoted,13  he  repeatedly  declared  that  the  great  Ben 
had  no  right  notion  of  tragedy,  for  he  had  often  failed  to  move 
terror  and  pity  and  consequently  had  fallen  far  behind  the 
ancients.14  But  along  with  IJymer  and  Dryden,  with  Gildoji. 
and  Addison,  and  a  host  of  other  critics  of  the  day,  he  was  loud 
in  his  praise  of  Jonson's  comedies.  In  common  with  these 
critics  Dennis  affirmed  the  belief  that  Jonson  had  carried  away 

"Johnson  seems  to  have  accepted  and  restated  Dennis's  arguments  about 
Shakspere's  learning.  See  the  preface  to  his  Shakespeare,  xxxvii. 

12  Original  Letters,  p.  406. 

13  E.g.,  Preface  to  his  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer. 
^Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  p.   57. 


189 

the  palm  of  comedy  from  both  the  ancients  and  the  moderns  and 
had  done  so  in  spite  of  his  occasional  stooping  to  play  the 
buffoon.15  St.  fivremond  was  largely  responsible  for  this 
praise  of  Jonson  by  the  critics  and  in  a  measure  for  their 
attitude  toward  comedy — the  exaltation  of  the  ridiculum,  which 
caused  Dennis  and  his  age  to  place  Jonson's  comedies  far  above 
Shakspere's.16  According  to  our  critic  Jonson's  work  is  dis- 
tinguished by  its  humor  and  its  plot  management,17  more  espe- 
cially by  the  former,  which  strengthened  his  observance  of  the 
ridiculum.  Dennis  criticized  the  Volpone  and  the  Alchemist, 
which  he  ranked  among  the  best  of  Jonson's  comedies,  on  the 
ground  that  "the  intrigue  seems  more  dexterously  perplexed 
than  happily  disentangled ;  "18  but  the  management  of  the 
Silent  Woman  he  considered  so  admirable  that  it  should  rank 
as  the  best  English  comedy.19  Dennis  shows  for  Jonson,  how- 
ever, little  of  the  enthusiastic  appreciation  which  he  bestows 
upon  Shakspere ;  and  he  criticizes  Ben  for  failing  to  "  arouse 
passion,"  to  touch  the  heart. 

More  notable  than  Dennis's  praise  of  either  Jonson  or 
Shakspere  is  his  admiration  for  Milton ;  for  he  stood  among  his 
contemporaries  as  the  great  champion  of  the  Puritan  poet, 
anticipating  by  a  dozen  years  much  of  the  appreciation  which 
has  frequently  been  credited  to  the  "  Spectator."  The  various 
stages  in  the  growth  of  Milton's  popularity  have  recently  been 
traced  in  an  interesting  manner  by  Mr.  Raymond  D.  Havens.20 
This  writer  has  pointed  out  how  from  the  time  immediately 
after  Milton's  death  reference  was  made  to  him  with  increas- 
ing frequency  by  such  writers  as  the  poet's  nephew  Edward 
Phillips,21  by  Charles  Goodall,22  Samuel  Woodford,23  Oldham,2* 

^Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers,  p.  n. 

16  St.  fiyremond's  Oeuvres  Meslees,  1689,  p.  578. 

11  Preface  to  Gibraltar. 

18  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  p.  76. 

19  Theatre,  II,  376.     Cf.  Dry  den's  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  Ker,  I,  83  ff. 

20  Englische  Studien,  1909,  p.  175  ;  p.  199. 

21  Phrasium  Poeticarum  Thesaurus,  quoted  in  the  Lives  of  Edward  and 
John  Phillips  by  William  Godwin,  1815,  p.  145. 

22  Propitiatory  Sacrifice   to   the   Ghost  of  J —  M —  by  way   of  Pastoral, 
pub.    1689. 

23  Paraphrase   upon    the    Canticles,    1679. 
*Bion,  a  Pastoral,  1680. 


190 

and  a  number  of  other  writers  of  the  period.  Mr.  Havens 
has  also  cited  Rymer's25  and  Winstanley's26  adverse  criticism 
of  Milton,  and  like  Professor  Spingarn  has  pointed  out  how 
the  increasing  admiration  for  Milton  found  expression  in  the 
various  readings  of  two  closing  lines  in  Mulgrave's  Essay  upon 
Poetry.27  In  1688  Tonson  published  the  sumptuous  edition  of 
Paradise  Lost,  which  with  the  encouragement  of  Lord  Dorset 
had  been  warmly  welcomed  by  the  whigs.  Moreover,  Milton's 
epic  strongly  influenced  such  minor  religious  poems  as  those  of 
Samuel  Slater,28  Henry  Hare,29  and  William  Wollaston  ;30  and 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the  poem  was  greatly  admired 
by  non-conformists  generally.  Dryden's  comparison  of  Milton 
with  Vergil  and  Homer,  which  first  appeared  in  Tonson's 
edition  just  mentioned,  is  well  known.  Dennis  declared,31 
however,  that  this  epigram  was  merely  a  paraphrase  of  one 
by  the  Italian  poet  Selvaggi : 

"  Graecia  Maeonidem,  jactet  sibi  Roma  Maronem, 
Anglia   Miltonum,   jactat  utrique  parem." 

It  is  perhaps  sufficient  simply  to  mention  Dryden's  adaptation 
for  the  stage  of  Paradise  Lost.  In  the  Author's  Apology, 
1677,  prefixed  to  this  unforunate  adaptation,  Dryden  character- 
ized Milton's  epic  as  "  one  of  the  greatest,  most  noble,  and  most 
sublime  poems  that  either  this  age  or  this  nation  has  produced." 

25  Tragedies  of  the  Last  Age,   1677,  where  he  promises  some  reflections 
on  Paradise  Lost,  "  which  some  are  pleased  to  call  a  poem." 

26  In  his  Lives  of  the  most  Famous  English  Poets,   1687,  he  speaks  ofl 
•Milton's  fame   as  "  gone  out  like  a  candle  in  the  snuff." 

27 "  Must  above  Tasso's  lofty  flights  prevail, 

Succeed  where  Spenser  and  e'en  greater  Milton  fail. " 
Cf.  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  II,  356.  Dennis  was  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  this  passage  as  was  also  Dryden,  who  may  have  had 
it  in  mind  when  he  declared  in  the  Dedication  of  his  translation  of  Juvenal 
that  Milton  possessed  a  genius  greater  than  Cowley's  and  equal  to  Spen- 
ser's. 

23  Poems  in   Two   Parts,    1679. 

29  Situation   of   Paradise   Found    out,    1683. 

30  Design  of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes,  1691.     For  most  of  the  preceding 
references,   in  this   account  of  Milton's   early  influence,   I  am  indebted  to 
Mr.  Havens's  articles. 

81  Original  Letters,  p.  78. 


191 

Though  Dennis  designated32  this  characterization  as  the  first 
statement  "  disclosing  in  so  public  a  manner  an  extraordinary 
Opinion  of  Milton's  extraordinary  Merit,"  he  censured  the 
adaptation  of  Paradise  Lost  and  declared  that  Dryden,  as  he 
himself  had  confessed,  did  not  at  the  time  of  his  altering  the 
great  epic  know  one  half  of  its  merit.33  Indeed  for  many  years 
Dryden  was  suspicious  of  the  blank  verse  of  the  poem  and  once 
declared34  that  while  he  could  not  justify  Milton  in  its  use,  he 
might  "  excuse  him  by  the  example  of  Hanibal  Caro  and  other 
Italians"  who  had  employed  it.  On  the  whole,  however, 
Dryden  showed  a  generous  and  an  increasing  appreciation  of 
Milton,  which  was  probably  responsible  in  large  measure  for 
that  afterwards  exhibited  by  Dennis. 

Possibly  the  influence  of  Dryden  would  have  been  sufficient  to 
attract  Dennis  to  a  careful  study  of  Milton,  even  if  he  had  not 
been  urged  to  it  by  his  own  patriotic  and  moralistic  tendencies. 
Some  of  Dennis's  other  friends,  however,  are  to  be  remembered 
as  probably  stimulating  his  interest  in  that  poet.  Bishop 
Atterbury,  whom  we  have  noticed  as  one  of  his  companions 
in  the  years  of  early  manhood,  must  be  mentioned  among  those 
evincing  a  notable  admiration  for  Milton;  and  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  his  desire  that  "some  excellent  spirit"  might 
arise,  "that  had  leisure  enough,  and  resolution  to  break  the 
charm,  and  free  us  from  the  troublesome  bondage  of  Rhyming, 
as  Mr.  Milton  calls  it,"35  may  have  helped  shape  Dennis's 
determination  to  champion  blank  verse.  In  1694  appeared 
Addison's  commendation  of  Milton  in  the  familiar  Account  of 
the  Greatest  English  Poets;  and  in  the  same  year  was  published 
Gildon's  Miscellaneous  Letters  and  Essays  on  Several  Subjects, 
which  contains  To  Mr.  T.  S.  in  Vindication  of  Mr.  Milton's 
Paradise  Lost.  The  relations  between  Dennis  and  Gildon 
were  at  this  time  so  intimate,  and  their  views  in  such  close 
accord,  that  doubtless  they  mutually  stimulated  each  other  in 
their  admiration  for  the  puritan  poet. 

Just  when  Dennis  gained  this  love  for  Milton  is  hard  to 

82  Original  Letters,  p.  75. 

33  For  Dryden's  later  opinion  of  Milton,  see  Ker,  II,  28. 

84  Discourse   concerning  Satire,    Works,   XIII,   20. 

85  Englische  Studien,  1909,  p.  178. 


192 

say.  It  seems,  however,  that  the  date  should  be  fixed  about 
1692,  for  though  at  that  time  he  was  still  employing  the  couplet, 
he  then  acknowledged38  the  greatness  of  the  author  of  Paradise 
Lost.  Soon  after  that  his  poems  began  to  show  frank  imita- 
tions of  Milton,  both  of  the  great  epic,  and,  what  is  more 
remarkable  at  that  time,  of  the  minor  poems.  These  imita- 
tions reached  their  height  with  his  verses  on  the  battle  of 
Blenheim  in  such  lines  as  "  And  swinging  slow  with  hoarse  and 
sullen  roar."  Jacob,  in  his  Poetical  Register,37 1719,  recognized 
this  imitation  of  Milton  as  one  of  Dennis's  commendable  quali- 
ties and  declared  that  our  author  had  "come  nearest  that 
sublime  Poet  of  any  of  his  Contemporaries,"38  an  opinion  which 
was  later  echoed  by  Pope's  biographer,  Ayre.39  Pope  himself, 
on  the  other  hand,  ridiculed40  Dennis's  attempts  at  the  sub- 
limity of  Milton. 

One  of  the  strongest  influences  in  attracting  Dennis  to  Milton 
was  the  pronouncedly  religious  character  of  the  great  poet's 
work.  In  Milton  Dennis  found  a  writer  who  had  drawn  a 
tragedy  from  the  Bible41  and  had  owed  the  exaltation  of  his 
noblest  passages  to  the  power  of  the  Christian  religion,  an 
exaltation  so  powerful  that  it  had  surpassed  anything  in  an- 
tiquity.42 Unquestionably  Dennis's  insistence  upon  strong 
emotion  as  the  basis  of  poetry  was  fostered  by  his  admiration 
for  Milton ;  but  it  seems  probable,  also,  from  all  contemporary 
accounts  of  the  critic  that,  mixed  with  his  rationalistic  and 

36  Preface  to  the  Passion  of  Byblis. 

37  In  this   same   notice  Jacob   comments   thus   on   Dennis's   poem   on   the 
battle  of  Blenheim:  "The  following  lines  in  it,  in  my  Opinion,  are  very 
near  on  an  Equality  with  Milton,  and  they  are  writ  after  the  manner  of 
his  Hymn  to  the  Creator,  '  Begin  my  Soul,  and  strike  the  living  lyre.'  "     He 
then  quotes  about  thirty  lines.     Poetical  Register,  I,  260  ff. 

38  Ibid.,  I,  258. 

39  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and   Writings  of  Alexander  Pope,  I,   47. 

40  Grub   Street  Journal,   February    5,    1730. 

41 "  and  then  arose  another  famous  Reformer,  John  Milton  by  Name, 
who  not  only  left  a  Tragedy  behind  him,  the  Story  of  which  he  im- 
piously borrow'd  from  the  Bible,  written,  to  leave  him  without  excuse,  in 
his  mature,  nay  declining  years,  but  has  left  a  fine  Enconium  on  Shake- 
spear  ;  "  Original  Letters,  p.  236. 

"Works,    II,   430. 


193 

dogmatic  tendencies  was  a  strong  strain  of  emotionalism,48 
manifesting  itself  in  the  many  impetuous  acts  which  we  have 
noticed  in  the  biography ;  and  this  side  of  the  critic,  in  its  turn, 
welcomed  the  exaltation  of  Milton's  poetry.44  It  was  this 
exaltation,  this  sublimity,  Dennis  maintained,  that  had  enabled 
Milton  to  compose  the  "most  lofty  and  most  irregular  Poem, 
that  had  ever  been  produced  by  the  mind  of  man."45  He  had 
surpassed  Vergil  and  Homer  in  that  he  was  "  more  lofty,  more 
terrible,  more  vehement,  more  astonishing,  and  had  more 
divine  raptures."46  Furthermore,  in  writing  Paradise  Lost 

43  In  his  Harlequin  Horace,  1731,  p.  49,  the  Reverend  James  Miller  apos- 
trophises our  author  thus : 

"  O !    Dennis  eldest  of  the  scribbling  Throng, 
Tho'   skill'd   thyself   in   every   Art   of    Song, 
Tho'    also    of   thy    Mother-Goddess    full, 
By    Inspiration    furiously    dull." 

44  In  apologizing  for  his  style  in  a  letter  discussing  Milton's  sublimity, 
Dennis  states  that  he  found  it  "  next  to  impossible  to  resist  the  violent 
Emotions  which  the  Greatness  of  the  Subject  raised  in"  him.     Proposals 
for  printing  .  .  .  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  1721,  p.  16. 

45  This   statement   and   others   following  in   the  paragraph   for  which   no 
sources  are  noted,  are  based  on  Dennis's  Specimen,  Being  the  Substance  of 
what  will  be  said  in  the  Beginning  of  the  Criticism  of  Milton  prefatory  to 
the  Grounds  of  Criticism,   1704. 

46  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  17.     Dennis's  strong  insist- 
ence upon   regarding  sublimity   as   Milton's  great   distinguishing  quality  is 
well   illustrated  by  his  censures  of  Roscommon's   and  more  especially  of 
Addison's  criticisms  of  Paradise  Lost: 

"  I.  They  have  not  allow'd  that  Milton  in  the  Sublimity  of  his 
Thoughts  surpass'd  both  Ancients  and  Moderns. 

"  II.  In  their  Observations  which  they  have  made  on  Paradise  Lost, 
they  have  insisted  too  much  upon  things  in  which  Milton  has  equals, 
instead  of  dwelling  entirely  on  that  Sublimity  which  is  his  distinguishing 
and  characteristic  Quality,  and  which  sets  him  above  Mankind. 

"  III.  In  citing  Passages  from  him  which  are  truly  sublime,  they  have 
often  fail'd  of  setting  his  Sublimity  in  a  true  Light,  and  of  shewing 
it  to  all  its  Advantage. 

"  IV.  In  those  Passages  whose  Sublimity  they  have  set  in  a  true  Light, 
they  have  not  observ'd  to  the  honour  of  Milton,  and  our  Country,  that 
the  Thoughts  and  Images  are  Original,  and  the  genuine  Offspring  of  Mil- 
ton's transcendent  Genius. 

"  V.  They  have  not  shewn  how  Milton's  Sublimity  is  distinguish'd  from 
the  other  Poets  in  this  Respect,  that  where  he  has  excelled  all  other  Poets 
14 


194 

Milton  had  transgressed  the  laws  of  Aristotle,  not  through  any 
disrespect  for  them,  but  because  he  recognized  that  if  he 
should  follow  these  precepts  which  were  based  on  the  practice 
of  Homer,  he  must  share  the  fate  of  the  many  copyists  who 
had  fallen  short  of  the  greatness  of  the  Greek  poet.  Hence  he 
had  represented  not  the  conflict  of  man  and  man,  as  had 
Homer,  but  of  the  Devil  and  man ;  and  this  new  and  strange 
subject  had  thrown  him  upon  strange  thoughts  and  new 
expressions  that  could  not  be  judged  by  the  precepts  of  Aris- 
totle. In  these  thoughts  and  images,  and  consequently  in  his 
spirit,  Milton  had  the  advantage  of  both  Homer  and  Vergil. 
But  after  thus  praising  Milton's  excellencies,  the  critic  promised 
to  note  his  defects,  and  to  do  it  all  the  more  carefully,  "  be- 
cause some  of  them  ought  to  be  avoided  with  the  utmost  Cau- 
tion as  being  so  great  that  they  would  be  Insupportable  in  any 
one  who  had  not  his  Extraordinary  Distinguishing  Qualities." 
With  the  words  just  quoted,  however,  Dennis  closed  the  speci- 
men of  his  proposed  discussion  of  Milton,  so  we  must  look 
elsewhere  for  his  statements  regarding  his  favorite's  limita- 
tions. One  such  limitation  to  Milton's  greatness  the  critic 
found  in  his  failure  to  attain  in  practice  to  the  art  of  Vergil 
and  Homer,  with  which  he  was  so  well  acquainted  in  theory, 
and  which  would  have  brought  to  perfection  the  great  epic 
inspired  by  his  genius.  "  Near  a  sixth  part  of  the  poem," 
Dennis  maintained  in  his  Remarks  upon  the  Dunclad,  "  is  set 
down  for  want  of  Art.  For  this  Poem  is  so  ordered  that  the 
Subject  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  Books  could  by  no  means 
supply  him  with  the  great  ideas,  and  consequently  with  the 
great  Spirit,  which  the  first,  second,  and  sixth  books  had  done 
before."  This  same  willingness  to  admit  what  he  considered 
the  limitations  of  his  favorite  poet  appeared47  also  in  his  reply 
to  Addison's  discussion  of  Milton's  great  epic.  Dennis  main- 
tained that  the  "  Spectator  "  had  "  published  a  certain  Criticism 
upon  Milton,  in  which  the  reverse  of  almost  every  thing  he 

in  what  he  has  expresst,  he  has  left  ten  times  more  to  be  understood  than 
what  he  has  suggested,  which  is  the  surest  and  noblest  mark,  and  the  most 
transporting  Effect  of  Sublimity."  Proposals  for  printing  .  .  .  Miscellaneous 
Tracts,  1721,  p.  3. 

47  Introduction  to  the  Remarks  upon  Cato. 


195 

affirmed  is  true;  That  he  had  the  assurance  to  say  in  it,  That 
the  Paradise  Lost  of  Milton  has  an  Unity  of  Action,  whereas 
in  that  Poem,  there  are  more  apparently  two  Actions,  the  War 
of  the  Angels  being  an  Action  in  itself,  and  having  a  just  be- 
ginning, middle,  and  end."  Our  author  failed  to  realize  how  he 
had  really  broken  with  the  rules  in  his  appreciation  of  Paradise 
Lost,  and  how  Addison,  who  preached  against  the  "regular 
critics,"  was  bound  by  their  precepts ;  but  if  Dennis  were  en- 
titled for  no  other  reason  to  a  permanent  place  in  the  history  of 
literary  criticism,  he  should  be  remembered  as  perhaps  the  first 
ardent  and  persistent  champion  of  Milton,  and  he  should  be 
recognized  for  having  repeatedly  praised  and  emphasized  that 
poet's  "  Sublimity  and  matchless  Harmony,"  qualities  which 
have  stood  the  test  of  more  than  two  centuries. 

Though  Dennis  never  placed  Dryden  on  the  same  footing 
with  Milton,  he  entertained,  as  might  be  expected,  a  very  high 
opinion  of  his  writings,48  and  he  ranked  them  above  those  of 
Boileau  and  Racine.  Of  Dry  den's  plays,  considered  in- 
dividually, Dennis  said  but  little,  beyond  condemning49  the 
State  of  Innocence  as  a  sorry  imitation  of  Milton  and  All  for 
Love  as  morally  bad.  The  use  of  the  blank  verse  in  the 
Spanish  Friar,  however,  seemed  to  him  especially  good.  In- 
deed he  affirmed50  that  for  purity  the  English  language  had 
nothing  better  to  show  than  Dryden's  blank  verse,  which  com- 
bined "  the  easiness  of  Prose  with  the  Dignity  and  strength  of 
Poetry."  This  perfection,  Dennis  continued,  was  equalled 
only  by  that  of  Dryden's  heroic  couplets,  in  which  "he  will 
never  be  excelled  by  any  man,  unless  Time  make  some  strange 
alterations  in  the  Tongue."  But  most  interesting  of  all  was 
Dennis's  deliberate  judgment  of  his  master  which  we  have 
already  noted,  but  which  deserves  repetition  as,  possibly,  the  t- 
soundest  and  most  acute  summary  of  Dryden's  excellences  left 
us  by  any  of  his  critics.  In  a  letter  to  Jacob  Tonson,  the  book- 
seller, concerning  the  alleged  conspiracy  in  1715  against  the 
reputation  of  Dryden,  Dennis  wrote  thus  :51 

48  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  p.  49. 

49  Original  Letters,  p.  75. 

60  Impartial  Critick,  in  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  III,  153. 

61  Original  Letters,  p.  290. 


196 

"  I  hope  you  will  excuse  my  Affection  for  the  Memory,  and  my  Zeal  for 
the  Reputation  of  my  departed  Friend,  whom  I  infinitely  esteem'd  when 
living  for  the  Solidity  of  his  Thought,  for  the  Spring,  the  Warmth,  and 
the  beautiful  Turn  of  it;  for  the  Power,  and  Variety,  and  Fullness  of  his 
Harmony;  for  the  Purity,  the  Perspecuity,  the  Energy  of  his  Expression; 
and  (whenever  the  following  great  Qualities  were  requir'd)  for  the  Pomp 
and  Solemnity,  and  Majesty  of  his  Style." 

Of  a  long  list  of  other  English  writers  Dennis  at  some  time 
expressed  his  admiration — Butler,  Roscommon,  Denham,  Wal- 
ler, Wycherley,  Otway,  Etheredge,  Shadwell,  Crowne,  Congreve, 
Ambrose  Philips.52  It  may  be  sufficient  to  note  that  he  was 
generous  in  his  praise  of  all  of  these  writers,  particularly  of 
Wycherley,  whose  Plain  Dealer  he  ranked  as  one  of  the  world's 
greatest  comedies,53  and  of  Congreve  whom  he  considered  sec- 
ond only  to  Wycherley  as  a  playwright.54  Of  course  Dennis's 
judgments  of  many  of  these  writers  were  the  ordinarily  ac- 
cepted ones  of  his  day;  and  possibly  some  of  them,  as  with 
most  critics,  were  influenced  by  his  prejudices.  But  compar- 
ing his  judgments  of  these  authors  with  the  opinions  of  other 
critics  of  his  time,  and  with  those  confirmed  by  the  passing  of 
two  centuries,  we  must  agree,  it  seems,  that  Dennis's  estimates 
of  specific  writers,  expressed  before  his  senescence,  are  entitled 
to  a  much  more  careful  consideration  than  they  have  generally 
received. 

X 

His  POSITION  IN  CRITICISM  AND  HIS  INFLUENCE 

It  is  noticeable  that  the  list  of  writers  whom  Dennis  praised, 
quoted  in  the  preceding  section,  contains  but  few  authors 
whose  important  works  fell  in  his  later  years;  and  it  is 
also  significant  that  nearly  every  member  of  the  younger 
generation,  about  1710,  whose  writings  were  popular,  came 
under  his  condemnation.  Against  the  charge  that  his  criti- 
cisms were  ill  natured,  however,  he  was  continually  at  warfare. 
Even  as  early  as  1697!  he  felt  it  necessary  to  defend  his 

02  Preface  to  the  Remarks  on  the  Conscious  Lovers. 

53  Possibly  Dennis's  high  regard  for  this  play  came  from  Dryden.     See 
Ker,   I,    182. 

54  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions,  p.  79. 

1  Preface  to  the  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  where  he  argues  ardently 
and  at  length  in  defense  of  critics  and  criticism. 


197 

practice  against  this  charge ;  and  for  one  who  fought  so  stoutly 
and  so  unsparingly,  he  was  extremely  sensitive  to  the  accusa- 
tion.2 Dennis's  nature  contained  something  of  the  born  dis- 
senter, and  he  was  fearless  in  expressing  his  opinions.  Doubt- 
less, too,  he  was  somewhat  soured  by  his  failure  to  obtain 
recognition  from  the  public  and  from  the  government.  But  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  these  conditions  ever  consciously 
influenced  him  in  his  assaults  upon  more  successful  writers. 
For,  as  he  repeatedly  affirmed,  he  attacked  them  not  because 
they  had  succeeded,  but  because  he  believed  they  had  done  so 
undeservedly  and  for  the  most  part  through  the  efforts  of 
cabals.  Against  such  combinations  Dennis  continually  in- 
veighed, declaring  that  any  poet  of  genius  would  scorn  these 
devices  as  destructive  of  the  national  muse.  As  late  as  1717 
he  asserted  that  he  was  so  far  from  bearing  malice  toward 
those  whom  he  criticized  [i.  e.,  Pope]  that  he  was  willing  "  to 
own  their  good  qualities,  and  to  do  them  any  manner  of  Service 
that  lay  in  [his]  little  Power."  But  in  his  very  latest  criti- 
cisms Dennis  frankly  took  the  position  that  he  had  suffered 
injuries  which  admitted  of  no  legal  redress,  and  that  he  there- 
fore entered  the  lists  not  only  for  furthering  the  public  good 
but  also  for  avenging  private  wrongs.3  Dennis's  earlier 
criticisms,  however,  impress  the  reader  with  his  attempts 
to  be  impartial  and  judicial.  Repeatedly  he  declared  that 
he  had  consulted  his  friends  about  the  matter  in  hand, 
and  he  evidently  tried  in  his  better  work  to  state  fairly 
and  honestly  the  other  side  of  the  question.4  Even  in  his 

2  Original  Letters,  p.  202 ;  Preface  to  the  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on 
Criticism;  Preface  to  the  Monument.  Possibly  the  first  accusation  of  ill 
nature  brought  in  print  against  Dennis  is  that  by  the  author  of  a  Com- 
parison between  the  Two  Stages,  1702,  p.  181,  who  in  commenting  on  the 
critic's  failures  as  a  dramatist,  remarks :  "  These  repeated  Disappoint- 
ments, I  hope,  have  cured  him  of  the  Itch  of  Play  Making;  let  him  stick 
to  his  Criticisms  and  find  fault  with  others,  because  he  does  ill  himself." 

3 "  I  entered  these  disputes  partly  to  advance  the  Public  Good,  by  ad- 
vancing a  noble  Art,  and  partly  to  retort  private  Injuries;  .  .  .  either 
cause  is  in  itself  good  and  just,  and  both  together  are  strong  and  powerful, 
and  I  ...  shall  have  both  together  to  apologise  for  my  present  undertak- 
ing." Remarks  upon  Cato,  p.  7. 

4  Original  Letters,  p.   403. 


198 

Remarks  upon  Pope's  Translation  of  Homer  he  affirmed  that 
he  had  attempted  to  write  with  fairness  and  to  give  no  faults 
that  he  did  not  find  in  the  translation.5  Furthermore,  in  these 
same  Remarks  he  acknowledged  an  earlier  blunder  of  his  own.6 

So  far  as  in  him  lay,  Dennis  strove  in  his  best  work  not  only 
to  be  logical  but  also  to  put  his  argument  into  such  form  as 
would  appeal  most  easily  and  most  convincingly  to  his  readers. 
Some  of  his  writings,  it  is  true,  such  as  the  Reflections  upon  an 
Essay  on  Criticism,  evince  little  attempt  at  any  regular  method 
of  discussion ;  but  most  of  the  important  critiques,  including  the 
Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur,  the  Large  Account  of  the  Taste 
in  Poetry,  the  Remarks  upon  Cato,  and  most  notably  the  Ad- 
vancement and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  show  careful 
planning  by  the  writer.  In  his  more  pretentious  work  Dennis 
took  pains  to  define  the  terms  he  employed7  and  frequently 
cast  his  arguments  into  syllogistic  form.8  The  use  of  the 
dilemma,  too,  became  characteristic  of  his  style  of  argu- 
ment. Restatements,  summaries,  and  recapitulations  are  also 
frequent  in  Dennis's  writings,  especially  in  the  Advancement 
and  Reformation,  where  he  sometimes  carries  them  to  the 
point  of  weariness  in  his  desire  that  the  reader  may  not  miss 
the  thread  of  the  argument.  Possibly  at  times  this  argument 
becomes,  as  Mr.  Saintsbury  describes9  it,  "a  clatter  of  asser- 
tion ; "  but  Dennis  was  at  least  intellectually  honest  and  tried 
to  convey  as  clearly  as  he  could  what  he  conceived  to  be  the 
truth. 

With  his  attempts  at  clearness  he  strove  to  couple  a  variety 
and  elevation  of  style.  For  example,  he  even  went  so  far 
in  his  desire  to  diversify  his  Remarks  on  Prince  Arthur  as  to 
introduce  a  fragment  from  one  of  his  own  unfinished  dramas ; 
while  to  relieve  the  reader  after  a  long  stretch  of  reasoning  in 
the  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  he  cited  several  illustrative 
passages  from  the  poets.  In  his  criticisms  he  aimed  at  force 

6  Remarks  upon  Pope's  Homer,  p.  97. 

6  Ibid.,   p.   83. 

7  Possibly   this    attitude  was   a   result   of   his    respect   for   Hobbes.     See 
Hobbes's  Works,  London,  1740,  III,  23. 

8E.  g.,  Chap.  IV  of  the  Usefulness  of  the  Stage. 
9  History  of  Criticism,  II,  433. 


199 

and  grace  and  attained  them  oftener  than  in  either  his  poems  or 
his  plays.  Pope  seems  to  have  recognized  Dennis's  attempts 
at  elevation  and  to  have  hit  at  him  when,  in  the  Essay  an  Criti- 
cism, he  praised  Longinus  for  judging  with  fire.  At  any  rate 
Dennis  took  the  thrust  to  himself  and  retorted10  thus : 

[Pope]  "  condemns  his  Contemporaries  for  no  other  Reason  but  that  they 
are  his  Contemporaries.  For  why  should  not  a  modern  critic  imitate  the 
qualities  of  Longinus ;  and  when  he  treats  of  a  subject  that  is  sublime, 
treat  of  it  with  Sublimity? — But  pray,  who  are  the  Moderns  that  judge 
with  Fury  but  write  with  Flegm?  Who  are  they  who  have  writ  both 
Criticism  and  Poetry,  who  have  not  in  their  Poetry  shewn  a  thousand 
times  more  than  this  Essayer's  Fire?" 

And  there  is  no  mistaking  the  nature  of  Dennis's  answer  to  his 
own  question.  Sometimes  one  is  tempted  to  believe  that  he 
occasionally  relied  upon  the  enthusiasm  of  the  moment  to  make 
amends  for  the  absence  of  hard,  consistent  labor ;  for  while,  as 
has  been  stated,  his  more  pretentious  work  was  carefully 
planned  and  executed,  time  after  time  he  declared  in  his  shorter 
tracts  that  he  had  written  hurriedly,  and  that  he  was  thor- 
oughly tired  of  his  task.11 

But  on  the  whole  Dennis's  style  in  his  criticisms  was  a  very 
good  one — at  times  one  might  call  it  admirable,  and  that  too 
after  making  allowance  for  the  superabundance  of  strong  ex- 
pletives and  a  burly  humor,  which  is  free  from  slime,  though 
not  from  mud.  Indeed  one  sometimes  wonders  at  the  difference 
between  the  dull  and  heavy  style  of  his  dramas  and  the  firm 
and  often  elevated  style  of  his  criticisms.  But  this  contradic- 
tion in  his  style  was  but  one  of  the  many  in  the  man  himself. 

The  contradiction  noticed  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  indeed,' 
is  evident  "noT  only  in  Dennis's  style  but  in  his  whole  critical 
position,  which  we  may  now  summarize.  At  bottom  Dennis 
was  a  rationalist,  or  better  a  dogmatist  who  supported  his 
positions  by  asserting  that  they  were  based  upon  reason.  The 
age  was  in  part  responsible  for  his  attitude,  especially  in  his 

10  Reflections  upon  an  Essay  on  Criticism,  p.  18.     Cf.  Disraeli's  Calamities 
of  Authors,  London,  1867,  p.  57.  * 

11  Prefaces  to  the  Court  of  Death,  to  Blenheim,  the  Impartial  Critick,  the 
Usefulness  of  the  Stage,  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Translation  of  Homer, 
and  elsewhere. 


200 

earlier  years  when  he  was  very  susceptible  to  the  ideas  of 
others.  But  a  certain  positiveness  and  assertiveness  of  nature 
would  have  made  him  a  dogmatist  in  any  age.  His  educa- 
tion was  such  as  to  inspire  him  with  a  love  for  the  classics  and 
a  respect  for  their  authority,  but  that  respect  never  became  . 
a  servile  regard  bu-t  rather  the  admiration  of  one  who  felt  that 
the  classics  were  great  and  good  only  as  they  conformed  to 
the  eternal  dictates  of  reason.  In  the  majority  of  his  beliefs 
he  agreed  with  the  prevailing  ideas,  especially  in  his  regard  for 
the  different  classes  of  literature  and  their  commonly  accepted 
characteristics.  He  further  agreed  with  current  custom  in  that 
as  a  critic  he  confined  himself  largely  to  a  discussion  of  the 
epic  and  the  drama,  and  that  as  a  playwright  he  chose  nearly 
all  his  themes  from  the  life  of  the  court  and  the  city  and 
treated  them  with  "  regularity." 

But  there  was  in  him  another  and,  for  the  history  of  criti- 
cism, a  more  important  side.  For  Dennis  went  beyond  his  age 
in  appreciating  that  "a  clear  head  and  an  accurate  under- 
standing alone  are  not  sufficient  to  make  a  poet,"  and  in  re- 
asserting time  after  time  that  emotioji  is  the  real  basis  of 
poetry.  To  his  age  he  stood  as  the  champion  of  "  the  furious 
joy  and  pride  of  souV  which  he  called  the  distinguishing  mark 
of  literary  genius.  In  his  attempt  to  emphasize  emotion  as  the 
basis  of  poetry  he  proposed  as  the  source  of  material  for  poetic 
inspiration  not  the  Greek  and  Roman  masterpieces  venerated 
by  the  neo-classicists  but  the  holy  scrigtures.  a  suggestion  which 
was  simply  revolutionary.  In  his  early  recognition  of  Milton 
as  the  poet  of  sublime  emotions,  Dennis  was  so  far  in  ad- 
vance of  his  age  that  it  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  main- 
tain that  his  criticisms  contain  the  first  appreciation  of  Paradise 
Lost  which  may  be  considered  as  at  all  adequate.  Dennis  was 
also  a  pioneer  of  his  times  in  emphasizing  the  relation  of  emo- 
tion and  versification,  in  discussing  the  difference  between  ordi- 
nary emotion  and  emotion  recollected  in  tranquility  (to  use 
Wordsworth's  phrasing),  as  the  basis  of  poetry,  and  in 
championing  the  cause  of  unrhymed  verse  when  the  heroic 
couplet  was  dominant.  Moreover,  his  appreciation  of  Shaks- 
gere  was  decidedly  in  advance  of  his  time.  To  him  is  also  to 


201 

be  credited  one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the  first,  'bookj-eview  in 
a  modern  sense.  Then  too,  in  his  better  critical  days  he  viewed 
literature  dynamically  rather  than  statically,  recognized  a 
standard  of  taste  beyond  judgment,  and  analyzed  the  conditions 
making  for  the  taste  of  his  age.  Furthermore,  though  he  wrote 
of  and  for  the  city,  he  manifested  a  keen  delight  in  nature11* 
and  seems  to  have  gone  beyond  any  other  writer  of  his  age  in 
his  appreciation  of  her  sublime  aspects.12  In  a  word,  Dennis 
was  possessed  of  a  large,  if  not  always  well  regulated,  emo- 
tional nature  and  of  considerable  critical  acumen,  which  fre- 
quently clashed  with  his  respect  for  the  rules  and  pointed  the 
way  to  a  better  conception  of  literature. 

In  hisiaier  years,  as  has  been  indicated,  he  became  more  and 
more  the  champion  of  the  rules.  Such  conservatism,  which 
might  well  be  explained  by  his  increasing  years,  was  fostered 
by  the  conflicts  in  which  he  engaged.  The  old  critic  who  en- 
tered the  lists  as  the  champion  of  liberty  and  religion  came  to 
speak,  as  someone  has  said,  with  the  authority  of  an  infallible 
church.  After  he  was  sixty,  Dennis  insisted,  with  the  assur- 
ance of  one  who  knows  himself  in  the  right,  upon  the  ob- 
servance of  the  various  types  and  even  refused  the  name  of 
poetry  to  such  writings  as  did  not  conform  to  these  standards. 
Against  the  recognition  of  any  new  class  of  writings  he  grew 
bitterly  opposed.  For  example,  he  himself,  who  as  a  young 
writer  had  employed  and  defended  burlesque,  in  his  old  age 
could  .scarcely  find  condemnation  sufficiently  severe  for  its  suc- 
cessor, the  mock  epic.  These  later  years  also  reveal  in  Dennis's 
work  an  increased  attention  to  matters  of  verbal  criticism, 
sometimes  just,  but  more  often  the  cavils  of  one  looking  for 
faults.  But  even  in  these  evil  days  he  maintained  his  admira- 

ua  "  As  when  a  thoughtful  man  forsakes  the  Town, 
And  to  some  Country  Solitude  goes  down, 
With  more  than  common  pleasure  he  beholds 
The  Woods,  the  Lawns,  the  Valleys,  and  the  Folds. 
Nature's  bright  Beauties  everywhere  he  meets, 
His  Soul,  which  long  had  been  confin'd  in  Streets, 
With  Rapture  now  her  kindred  Objects  greets." 

"Prologue  Written  by  Mr.  Dennis"  for  Oldmixon's  Amintas,  1698. 
13  Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose,  p.  137;  Original  Letters,  pp.  3off. 


202 

tion  for  Milton  and  his  insistence  upon  emotion  as  the  basis  of 
poetry,  and  for  these  we  may  forgive  many  things. 

Just  what  was  the  influence  Dennis's  views  exerted  upon 

.  .  .       J  •  mi"  i  " li»  TT.  .  .***?"^ 

his  contemporaries,  it  is  hard  to  say.  His  reputation  in  the 
first  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  well  established  in 
England  and  may  have  extended  to  the  continent.13  Indeed 
through  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  Dennis  was 
commonly  regarded  as  England's  greatest  critic,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  he  felt  his  importance  and  spoke  with  an 
authority  which  evoked  from  his  enemies  and  the  wits  of  the 
town  in  general  a  certain  mock  respect.  Gay,  for  example,  in 
the  preface  to  the  Mohocks,  declared  "We  look  upon  you  to 
have  a  monopoly  of  English  criticism  in  your  head ; "  and  he 
later  joined  with  Pope  and  Arbuthnot14  in  burlesquing  Dennis 
as  the  nation's  foremost  critic.  But  the  general  opinion  was 
better  voiced  by  Gildon,  who  in  I7I715  praised  Dennis  as  "the 
most  consummate  critic  of  the  age."  In  reply  to  the  possible 
objection  that  Gildon's  opinion  was  as  much  biased  by 
prejudices  as  was  Gay's,  may  be  cited  the  testimony  of  the 
thoroughly  impartial  Giles  Jacob16 — "  If  I  did  not  allow  this 
Gentleman  to  be  ...  the  greatest  Critic  of  this  Age,  I  should 
be  wanting  in  justice  to  his  Character;"  and  this  estimate  was 
repeated  near  the  middle  of  the  century  by  Ayre  in  his  biog- 
raphy of  Pope.17  We  may  also  note  that  in  1723  Blackmore 
praised  Dennis  as  a  greater  critic  than  Boileau.18 

13  "A  certain  Gentleman  just  arriv'd  from  Spain,  and  other  Parts,  by 
chance   meeting  Mr.   Dennis,   among  other   Compliments   told   him,   he  ob- 
serv'd   his    Character   and   Writings   were   very   much   taken    notice   of   in 
Foreign  Parts,  to  which  Mr.  Dennis  reply'd  '  Yes,  Sir,  I  know  they  do  me 
Honour,  but  as  for  my  own  Country,  the  English,  God's  Death,  they  dont 
know  there's  such  a  Man  amongst  them.'  "     Victor's  Epistle  to  Sir  Richard 
Steels  on  his  Play  called  the  Conscious  Lovers,   1722. 

14  In  Three  Hours  after  Marriage. 
-™  Complete  Art  of  Poetry,   I,    185. 

16  Poetical  Register,  1719,  I,  258. 

17 1,  47  ff. 

18  Preface  to  Alfred,  iii :  "  There  are  other  Gentlemen,  who  .  .  .  believe  no 
Man  should  attempt  such  a  Work  [».  e.,  an  epic]  on  the  Plan  of  Revealed 
Religion  .  .  .  And  in  this  Class  are  Mr.  Boileau  and  Sir  William  Temple; 
and  Mr.  Dennis,  who  has  better  deserved  of  the  Christian  Religion  than  the 
last,  as  he  is  superior  in  critical  Abilities  to  the  first,  seemed  once  to  have 


203 

The  last  years  of  Dennis's  life  brought  the  quarrels  with 
Addison,  Pope,  and  Steele,  which  we  have  discussed  at  length, 
ana  the  satires  of  Gay,  Theobald,  and  Parnell.  In  this  flood 
of  adverse  criticism  and  scoffing  Dennis  was  nearly  over- 
whelmed. All  sorts  of  charges  were  brought  against  him, 
from  that  of  ill  nature  to  that  of  debasing  his  criticism  for 
gaining  the  means  of  subsistence.  Every  critic  and  criticaster 
of  the  day  had  his  fling  at  the  old  censor  of  letters.  It  is  easy 
to  see,  therefore,  why  in  his  later  years  Dennis  exerted  but 
little  influence;  for  any  critic  of  the  day  who  might  have 
given  a  thoughtful  consideration  to  his  doctrines,  might  well 
have  hesitated  to  acknowledge  any  indebtedness. 

His  position  regarding  the  emotions  excited  considerable 
comment  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  more  friendly  attitude  toward  his  views  is  that  exemplified 
in  the  verses  ascribed  to  Dr.  King;19  while  the  hostile  attitude 
found  expression  in  the  laughs  and  gibes  at  "  Sir  Longinus  " 
both  on  and  off  the  stage.20  Pope's  fling  may  be  cited  as  char- 
acteristic, for  while  he  could  descant  upon  rapture  warming  the 

the  same  Judgment.  In  this  same  year  appeared  another  reference  to 
Dennis's  rank  as  a  critic.  Benjamin  Victor,  who  took  sides  with  Steele 
in  the  quarrel  over  the  Conscious  Lovers,  declared  in  the  preface  to  his 
Vindication  of  that  play  that  he  proposed  to  show  "  that  the  Great  Critic 
of  the  Age  (in  his  own  Opinion)  is  no  Critic  at  all." 
19 "  While  Dennis  aids  the  Muse  to  sing, 

Or    gives    her    plumes,    or    clips    her    wing, 

Directs  her  cautious  how  to  fly, 

Unbeaten  paths   along  the   sky ; 

With  safety  we  sublimely  stray, 

And  soaring  gain  the  realms  of  day, 

Till  trembling  from   the  heights   above, 

And  dazzling  orbs  o'er  which  we  move  ; 

We   gently   sink   in   humbler   strains, 

To  vales  beneath  and  rural  plains." 

In  J.  Nichols's  Short  Collection  of  Poems  with  Notes  Biographical  and 
Historical,  London,  1780,  III,  55.  From  Bibliotheca;  a  Poem  occasioned 
by  the  Sight  of  a  Modern  Library.  "  This  is  ascribed  to  Dr.  King  upon 
conjecture  only.  It  was  published  in  1712,  the  winter  before  his  death 
by  his  publisher,  and  is  very  much  in  his  manner."  Nichols's  Note. 

20  "  Never  was  there  in  our  Nation  a  time  when  Folly  and  Extravagance 
of  every  kind  were  more  sharply  inspected,  or  wittily  ridiculed."  Shafts- 
bury's  Letter  Concerning  Enthusiasm,  1708. 


204 

mind,21  he  ridiculed22  "the  poetic  rage  and  enthusiasm  of 
which  Mr.  Dennis  hath  been  so  highly  possessed;  .  .  .  those 
extraordinary  motions  whereof  he  so  feelingly  treats."  It  is 
difficult,  however,  to  indicate  any  direct  influence23  of  Dennis's 
insistence  upon  the  emotional  element  in  poetry.  As  the  tenet 
of  one  of  the  foremost  critics  of  the  time,  it  probably  met  with 
a  certain  recognition  which  never  found  any  very  tangible 
expression.  To  the  literary  student  of  today  it  is  interesting  as 
at  least  a  forecast  of  the  practice  of  the  romanticists. 

Dennis's  proposal  to  restore  poetry  by  the  infusion  of  re- 
ligion, if  not  very  potent  directly,24  at  least  represents  a  strong 

21  Essay   on   Criticism,  1.   235. 

22  Dunciad,  Note  to  I,  106.     In  his  Prologue  to  a  Play  for  Mr.  Dennis's 
Benefit,   1733,   Pope  characterized  our  critic  as 

"  A  desp'rate  bulwark,   sturdy,   firm,   and   fierce 
Against  the  Gothic  sons  of  frozen  verse."     Works,  IV,  418. 

23  The  student  of  Dennis  is  frequently  tantalized  by  suggestions  of  pos- 
sible  instances   of  the  critic's   influence,   as,   for   example,   in   the  writings 
of  Lady  Winchilsea.     She  was  a  friend  of  Dennis's  associate  Rowe   (the 
Poems  of  Anne  Countess  of  Winchilsea,  by  Myra  Reynolds,  Chicago,  1903, 
p.   liii)    and  published  her  first  poems   in  the  Miscellanies  of   the  critic's 
boon   companion   Gildon   in    1701,   just   at   the   time   that   our   author   was 
doing   his    most    original    critical    thinking.     Sixteen    years    later    she    was 
satirized   along  with   Dennis   in  the   Three  Hours  After  Marriage,  where 
she  is  represented  as  reading  to  him  one  of  her  plays.     Furthermore,  we 
know  that  she  was  deeply  interested  in  the  critical  thought  of  the  times 
(Op.  cit.,  cxi)  and  that  her  nephew  with  whom  she  lived  on  very  intimate 
terms  was  one   of  the  subscribers  to   Dennis's  proposed  magnum  opus  in 
1704  and  therefore  possessed  at  least  the  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry, 
which  contained  our  critic's  views  on  the  possibilities  of  uniting  religion 
and  poetry  developed  as  far  as  he  ever  carried  them.     To  this  we  may 
add   that   Lady    Winchilsea   produced   in   the   years   immediately   following 
the  promulgation  of  Dennis's  theory  a  number  of  paraphrases  of  different 
parts  of  the  scripture.     Possibly  too,   her  interest  in  the  fable  may  have 
been  stimulated  by  Dennis's  efforts  in  that  form  of  writing.     At  any  rate 
her  fables   are  written  in  the  La  Fontaine-L'Estrange  style  which  Dennis 
had  imitated  a  decade  before.     While  all  this  evidence  fails  to  prove  any 
influence  of  Dennis  upon  Lady  Winchilsea,  it  suggests  strongly  the  possi- 
bility of   such   influence  and  exemplifies   interestingly  the   many  points   of 
possible  contact  between  our  critic  and  the  other  writers  of  his  time. 

24  Aaron   Hill,    who    after    1730    took   a   kindly   interest   in   Dennis,    may 
have   been   influenced    by    the    critic    in    undertaking    his    numerous    para- 
phrases of  the  scriptures.     It  is  at  least  noticeable  that  he  versified  nearly 


205 

current  in  the  literature  of  the  age.  The  tragedies  of  his 
friend  Rowe  exhibit  these  same  moralistic  tendencies,  as  do 
also  the  comedies  of  his  early  friend  and  late  enemy  Steele, 
which  Hazlitt  has  characterized  as  "homilies  in  dialogue."25 
As  examples  of  the  workings  of  this  force  in  other  branches 
of  letters  may  be  cited  Shaftsbury's  moralistic  writings  and, 
even  better,  the  Tatler  and  Spectator,  whose  professed  purpose 
was  "to  enliven  morality  with  wit,  and  to  temper  wit  with 
morality."  Addison  was,  of  course,  well  acquainted  with 
Dennis's  theory,  which  may  have  stimulated  his  interest  in 
writing  hymns.  As  a  more  definite  result  of  Dennis's  doctrine 
may  be  cited  the  publication  of  the  Collection  of  Divine  Hymns, 
1709,  which  has  been  noticed  in  the  biography.  In  his  Com- 
plete Art  of  Poetry  Gildon  frankly  incorporated  Dennis's  views 
on  the  relation  of  poetry  and  religion  into  his  scheme  for 
systematizing  poetic  theory;  and  Blackmore  both  in  his  Crea- 
tion and  in  the  preface  to  his  Redemption  indicates  that  he 
knew  and  favored  Dennis's  position.  Possibly,  too,  the  physi- 
cian-poetaster may  have  been  stimulated  by  Dennis's  theory  in 
undertaking  his  New  Version  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  fitted 
for  the  Tunes  used  in  Churches,  1721,  which  proved  a  very 
popular  hymnal.25a  Here,  too,  we  may  note  that  in  the  Plain 
Dealer  for  January  18,  1725,  appeared  a  letter  vigorously  cen- 
suring the  "  Bible  Versions  of  the  Psalms  and  the  Prophets  " 
in  use  in  the  churches,  and  praising  Dennis's  efforts  to  elevate 
and  restore  sacred  poetry. 

Later  in  the  century  Goldsmith  emphasized26  the  close  rela- 

all  of  Dennis's  favorite  passages  from  the  Old  Testament.  It  is,  moreover, 
interesting  to  note  in  connection  with  this  possible  influence  by  Dennis  that 
Hill  also  wrote  a  Poem  in  Praise  of  Blank  Verse.  Both  he  and  his  friend 
the  poet  Thomson  were  at  least  fairly  well  acquainted  with  Dennis's  critical 
beliefs. 

28  Comic  Writers,  Lecture  VIII. 

2811  There  was,  however,  both  in  this  and  in  the  preceding  age  a  great 
deal  of  religious  paraphrasing.  Waller  had  done  it  years  before,  as  had 
Parnell  and  others  contemporary  with  Dennis,  so  we  must  be  careful  in 
assigning  any  special  influence  to  our  critic. 

26 "  Poetry  in  its  infant  state  was  the  language  of  devotion  and  love. 
It  was  the  voice  and  expression  of  the  heart  of  man  when  ravished  with 
the  view  of  numberless  blessings  that  perpetually  flowed  from  God,  the 


206 

tion  of  religion  and  poetry  in  a  manner  that  seems  to  indicate 
he  was  acquainted  with  the  works  of  Dennis.  If  he  did  not 
borrow  his  ideas  from  the  older  critic,  he  at  least  expressed  them 
in  language  quite  similar  to  that  of  the  Grounds  of  Criticism  in 
Poetry.  It  is  much  more  doubtful  whether  Wordsworth  was 
acquainted  with  Dennis's  theories;  but  there  is  at  least  an 
interesting  parallel  between  Dennis's  belief  that  ideas  in  medi- 
tation furnish  the  best  material  for  poetry  and  Wordsworth's 
well  known  doctrine  that  the  basis  of  poetry  is  "emotion 
recollected  in  tranquility."  Again,  some  of  the  ideas  in  the 
Essay  Supplementary  to  the  Preface  of  the  Lyrical  Ballads, 
emphasizing  the  "  affinity  between  religion  and  poetry,"  are  in 
substantial  agreement  with  those  we  have  discussed.  Indeed 
as  we  read  in  Wordsworth's  Preface  to  the  edition  of  1815  that 
"  The  grand  store  houses  of  enthusiastic  and  meditative  Imagi- 
nation of  poetical,  as  contradistinguished  from  human  and 
dramatic  Imagination,  are  the  prophetic  and  lyrical  parts  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  works  of  Milton,"  we  realize  that 
here  are  Dennis's  doctrines  reappearing  after  a  hundred  years. 
The  present  writer  has  been  unable,  however,  to  show  definitely 
that  Wordsworth  was  influenced  by  Dennis's  writings. 

In  considering  the  question  of  the  influence  of  Dennis's  ad- 
miration for  Milton  upon  the  other  writers  of  the  age,27  we 
may  well  notice  the  following  passage  from  his  Observations 

fountain  of  goodness."  Newbery's  Art  of  Poetry,  I,  ii.  "  What  we  have 
said  of  the  origin  of  poetry  will  account  for  the  necessity  there  is  for  that 
enthusiasm,  that  fertility  of  invention,  those  sallies  of  imagination,  lofty 
ideals,  noble  sentiments,  bold  and  figurative  expression,  harmony  of  num- 
bers, and  indeed  the  natural  love  of  the  grand,  sublime,  and  marvellous, 
which  are  the  essential  characteristics  of  the  great  poet."  Ibid.,  iii. 
Other  critics  of  the  eighteenth  century  who  have  discussed  the  relation 
of  religion  and  poetry,  such  as  Bishop  Kurd  (Works,  1811,  II,  168)  appear 
quite  ignorant  of  Dennis's  theorizing. 

27  Possibly  Thomson,  who  befriended  Dennis's  old  age,  may  have  had  his 
interest  in  Milton  and  in  blank  verse  strengthened  by  the  old  critic.     Cf.  his 
lines  from  Autumn  in  praise  of  Philips  as  Milton's  successor: 
"  Philips,   Pomona's   bard,   the   second  thou 
Who  nobly  durst  in  rime-unfettered  verse 
With  British  freedom  sing  the  British  song." 

Blackmore,  too,  may  have  been  influenced  by  Dennis's  doctrines.  See  the 
preface  to  his  Creation,  xlvi. 


207 

on  Paradise  Lost,  included  in  the  Proposal  for  printing  the 
Miscellaneous  Tracts,  1721.  This  passage  indicates  clearly 
his  attitude  toward  the  "  Spectator's "  criticisms  of  Milton's 
poem: 

"  in  most  of  the  Treatises  which  I  have  publish'd!  for  Thirty  Years,  even 
in  those  in  which  I  have  unhappily  engag'd  to  detect  and  blame  the  Errors 
of  some  of  my  Contemporaries,  I  have  not  been  able  to  forbear  pointing 
at  several  of  the  matchless  Beauties  of  Milton.  In  the  Remarks  on  Prince 
Arthur  I  cited  at  large  the  sublime  Description  of  Satan  in  the  first  Book  of 
that  Poem :  and  the  speech  of  that  fallen  Arch-Angel  in  the  fourth,  which 
begins  with  the  noble  Apostrophe  to  the  Sun. 

"  In  the  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1700,  I  shew'd  the  vast  advantage  which  Milton  had  over  Ovid,  and 
ev'n  Virgil  himself,  in  his  Description  of  Chaos  and  the  Creation. 

"  In  the  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  which  Book  was  published  in 
1704,  you  know  very  well,  Sir,  that  I  cited  at  large  the  Description  of  the 
Descent  of  Raphael  in  the  fifth  Book,  and  the  glorious  Hymn  to  the  Creator 
in  the  same  Book,  and  likewise  the  Divine  colloquy  between  God  and  Adam 
in  the  Eighth  Book. 

"  Some  Persons,  who  long  since  the  Publication  of  the  foremention'd 
Treatises  began  to  write  Notes  on  the  Paradise  Lost,  have  made  particular 
mention  of  the  same  Beauties  which  I  had  mark'd  out  before,  without  making 
any  Mention  of  me.  Tho'  you  know  very  well  Sir,  that  I  can  bring  unques- 
tionable Proof  that  those  Person's  had  read  the  foremention'd  Treatises, 
and  read  them  with  Applause ;  but  I  should  not  be  the  least  concern'd  at  the 
treating  me  so  unfairly,  if  they  had  done  justice  to  Milton,  thro'  the  course 
of  their  Criticisms." 

That  Addison  was  consciously  or  unconsciously  indebted  to 
Dennis  seems  quite  probable.  His  scheme  for  discussing  the 
poem  is,  as  has  frequently  been  noted,  that  of  Le  Bossu,  which 
our  critic  had  employed  in  judging  Blackmore's  Prince  Arthur. 
Furthermore,  while  it  may  be  urged  that  it  is  possible  that 
Addison  may  have  selected  as  "  Beauties "  those  passages 
formerly  praised  by  the  older  writer,  it  seems  probable  that  his 
attention  may  have  been  called  to  some  of  them  at  least  by 
his  friend's  eulogies  of  them.  Then  too,  Dennis  had  insisted 
beyond  any  other  writer  of  the  times  upon  recognizing  as  the 
preeminent  quality  of  Milton's  poem  a  sublimity  surpassing  that 
of  any  other  writer  ancient  or  modern;  and  in  beginning  his 
comments  Addison  had  emphasized  this  quality  very  much  in 


208 

the  manner  of  Dennis. 27a  Again,  we  may  note  that  Addison 
repeated  Dennis's  statement  that  Milton's  Hymn  at  the 
Creation  is  based  upon  the  I48th  Psalm,  and  that  the  "  Spec- 
tator's" comments  upon  Milton's  description  of  Chaos  closely 
resemble  our  critic's  discussion  of  the  same  subject.  That  Ad- 
dison should  have  made  no  mention  in  these  papers  of  the 
well-recognized  champion  of  Milton  is  to  be  explained,  per- 
haps, by  the  strained  relations  between  him  and  his  fellow 
critic  at  the  time  of  the  publication  of  these  appreciations.  At 
any  rate  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  Addison's  interest  in 
Milton  was  stimulated  by  the  repeated  and  enthusiastic  praise 
Dennis  bestowed  upon  that  poet. 

On  a  single  later  critic  was  Dennis's  influence  pronouncedly 
marked.  Dr.  Johnson  read  and  considered  his  writings  care- 
fully, took  as  his  own  many  of  the  opinions  there  stated,  and 
expressed  the  desire  that  Dennis's  works  might  be  collected.28 
It  is,  of  course,  too  much  to  say  that  Johnson's  advocacy  of 
the  theory  of  poetic  justice  was  due  entirely  to  Dennis's  teach- 
ing, for  the  idea  was  common  enough;  but  he  unquestionably 
weighed  our  critic's  arguments  and  was,  it  seems  probable, 
influenced  by  them.29  In  his  lives  of  Addison  and  of  Pope 
Johnson  made  frequent  allusions  to  and  quotations  from 
Dennis's  criticisms  of  these  authors.  Some  of  the  Doctor's 
phrases  concerning  the  old  critic  are  fairly  well  known,  such 
as  his  statement  that  Dennis  "  found  and  shewed  many  faults 
in  Cato,"  that  "  he  shewed  them  indeed  in  anger,  but  he  shewed 
them  with  acuteness,  such  as  ought  to  rescue  his  work  from 
oblivion."  Johnson  then  proceeded  to  incorporate  in  his  Life 
of  Addison  several  pages  of  the  Remarks  upon  Cato,  possibly, 
as  was  maliciously  suggested  by  one  contemporary,30  to  "  swell 
his  pay."  He  accepted  Dennis's  criticisms  of  the  play  as  quite 

27(1  Defoe  in  the  notes  to  Jure  Divino,  1706,  had  declared  that  in  his  opinion 
Milton  was  the  greatest  master  of  the  sublime  in  any  language.  Perhaps 
such  talk  was  then  common  enough  to  make  it  possible  that  Addison  did  not 
think  especially  of  Dennis. 

28  Hill's  Johnsonian  Miscellanies,  III,  40. 

29  Preface  to  his  edition  of  Shakespere,  xix. 

30  Horace  Walpole's  Letters,  Oxford,  1906,  II,  376:  "[Johnson]   has  re- 
printed Dennis's  criticism  of  Cato  to  save  time  and  swell  his  pay." 


209 

pertinent,  though  he  ended  by  declaring  that  "  as  we  love  better,  t 
to  be  pleased  than  to  be  taught,  Cato  is  read,  and  the  critic 
neglected."  Johnson  also  quoted  a  part  of  Dennis's  comment 
on  Addison's  praise  of  Chevy  Chase  and  endorsed  the  critic's 
condemnation  of  the  ballad.  He  further  showed  himself  a 
close  student  of  Dennis  in  his  criticisms  of  Pope,31  many  of 
which  are  in  large  measure  merely  restatements  of  our  author's 
judgments.  But  on  the  whole,  Johnson  was  less  influenced 
by  Dennis's  criticisms  of  Pope  than  by  his  judgments  of 
Addison. 

Johnson's  respect  for  Dennis,  however,  was  in  marked  con- 
trast with  the  general  opinions  of  his  age,  for  the  view  most 
commonly  accepted  was  that  expressed  in  Gibber's  Lives  of 
the  Poets  where  the  critic  is  represented  as  a  disappointed 
as^rant  for  the  crown  of  wit.32  Frequently,  too,  in  such  skits 
as  Thos.  Cooke's  Battle  of  the  Poets,  the  first  edition  of  which 
had  appeared  in  1725  during  Dennis's  life,  the  old  critic  was  as- 
signed a  part  in  keeping  with  his  reputation  for  asperity;33 
while  by  still  other  writers,  less  friendly,  he  was  often 

31  Lives  of  the  Poets,  London,  1825,  IV,  172,  173,  178,  179,  185,  253. 

32  "  His  perpetual  misfortune  was  that  he  aimed  at  the  empire  of  wit,  for 
which  nature  had  not  sufficiently  endowed  him ;  and  as  his  ambition  prompted 
him  to  obtain  the  crown  by  a  furious  opposition  to  all  competitors,  so,  like 
Caesar  of  old,  his  ambition  overwhelmed  him."     IV,  238. 

33  In  the  second  canto  of  the  Battle  of  the  Poets  (Mr.  Cooke's  Original 
Poems,  etc.,  London,  ed.  of  1742,  p.  31),  Dennis  is  thus  described: 

"  Dennis,  whose  veins  with  youthful  Vigour  flow, 
Firm  as  an  Oak  beneath  the  Weight  of  Snow, 
True  Foe  to  Vice,  to  Modern  Bards  the  Dread, 
Who  spurious  wit  hath  oft  in  Triumph  led, 
Rears,  as  Apollo  and  the  nine  inspire, 
With  hands  tremendous  the  vindictive  Fire. 
Dauntless  he  rages  o'er  the  hostile  Ground ; 
And  of  the  slumb'ring  Chiefs,  the  Labours  round 
He  views  and  seizes  in  th'  unguarded  Hour 
From  each  an  Off'ring  to  the  offended  Power. 
From  Pope  he  bears  no  slender  Sacrifice ; 
In  flaming  Rolls  Volumes  on  Volumes  rise : 
With  the  marr'd  Grecian  stories  fed  the  Flame, 
Thy  Praise,  Cecilia,  and  the  Temple  Fame." 
15 


210 

ridiculed  as  selling  his  judgment  for  a  dinner.34  Voltaire,  who 
gained  most  of  his  information  about  Dennis  from  Pope  and 
his  friends  frequently  sneered  at  the  old  gallophobe  and  com- 
pared35 him  with  a  pigs'-tongue  tester.  Later,  Dibdin  found36 
Dennis's  vanity  his  chief  characteristic;  and  some  of  the 
biographers  of  Addison,  Steele,  and  Pope  discovered37  in  him 
a  "  literary  hangman,"  without  the  smallest  particle  of  literary 
acumen.  But  something  of  a  reaction  is  noticeable  a  half  cen- 
tury after  Dennis's  death.  Bowles,  in  his  edition  of  Pope,38 
defended  some  of  Dennis's  criticisms  and  pleaded  for  a  more 
lenient  judgment  of  the  man  on  the  score  of  his  bitter  dis- 
appointments in  life ;  and  Cowper  found39  in  him  "  a  very  sen- 
sible fellow,"  who  had  "passed  some  censures  on  both"  Ad- 

34  E.  g.,  the  Reverend  James  Miller  in  his  Harlequin  Horace,  1731,  p.  56, 
says: 

"  And  next  old  Dennis  with  a  Supper  treat, 
He'll  like  your  Poem  as  he  likes  your  Meat ; 
For  give  that  growling  Cerberus  but  a  Sop, 
He'll  close  his  Jaws,  and  sleep  like  any  Top." 

^Oeuvres,    Paris,    1829,    XXXVIII,    254. 

38  History  of  the  English  Stage,  London,   1800,  IV,  356. 

87  E.  g.,  Montgomery,  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Sir  Richard 
Steele,  Edinburg,  1865,  II,  47.  Montgomery  here  speaks  thus  of  Dennis: 
"  Indeed  he  was  worse  than  a  hangman,  who  merely  executes  a  painful 
but  necessary  duty.  Dennis,  on  the  contrary,  indulged  in  wanton  cruelty ; 
and  if  he  had  been  the  functionary  referred  to,  he  would  have  treated 
his  victim  to  a  preliminary  rehearsal  of  his  office  before  executing  it." 

38 "  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  poor  Dennis  was  hardly  used.  He  was  a 
scholar,  had  a  liberal  education,  and  had  been,  in  his  early  youth,  a  com- 
panion to  those  who  were  distinguished  for  rank  and  literature.  Being  at 
first  countenanced,  and  having  a  considerable  share  of  learning  and  in- 
genuity, he  was  no  doubt  mortified  and  galled,  to  find  the  stream  of  popular 
applause  turned  almost  exclusively  to  one  Poet.  [On  this  account,  his 
strictures,  though  often  just,  are  marked  with  asperity  and  coarseness.] 
.  .  .  Let  us  remember  what  is  due  to  disappointment.  Dennis  came  into 
the  world  with  ardent  hopes  as  a  man  of  literature,  and  with  respectable 
connections.  He  found  all  of  his  expectations  crossed,  though  he  was 
conscious  of  his  acquirements ;  and  after  long  and  ineffectual  struggles 
towardr  attaining  what  he  considered  his  deserved  rank  of  literary  emi- 
nence, he  sank  at  last,  poor  and  unfriended,  into  old  age."  Bowles,  Works 
of  Alexander  Pope  in  Verse  and  Prose,  London,  1806,  IV,  28. 

89  Letter  to  the  Reverend  Walter  Bagot,  July  4,  1786. 


211 

dison  and  Pope  "that  had  they  been  less  just,  would  have 
hurt  less." 

The  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  saw  little  attention 
paid  to  Dennis  beyond  Disraeli's  characterizing  him  as  the 
true  ^mechanical  critic40  and  holding  him  up  as  a  horrible 
example,  and  Talf  curd's  really  judicious  consideration  of  his 
writings.41  This  latter  article  was  the  first,  and  still  remains 
almost  the  single,  serious  discussion  of  the  critic  and  his  work; 
and  though  somewhat  rhetorical,  it  is  on  the  whole  a  just  and 
impartial  criticism.  About  the  same  time  came  Landor's 
extravagant  praise42  of  our  critic  in  ranking  Dryden  "knee 
deep  below  John  Dennis."  The  middle  of  the  century  brought 
Thackeray's  phrase  "  the  Timon  of  Grub  Street  ;  "  and  then 
Lowell  in  the  essays  on  Dryden  and  on  Pope  found  many 
oases  in  Dennis's  pedantry  and  declared  that  he  had  "  some 
sound  notions  as  a  critic."  Swinburne  has  been,  perhaps,  the 
most  enthusiastic  of  all  the  later  admirers  of  our  author, 
declaring43  that  through  the  Large  Account  of  the  Taste  in 
Poetry  "  John  Dennis  has  proved  himself  as  superior  a  critic  to 
Addison  as  Coleridge  or  Lamb  is  superior  to  Dennis,  and  has 
also  proved  himself  a  master  of  English  far  more  vigorous  and 
spontaneous,  while  no  less  classical  and  lucid,  than  Addison  and 
Steele."  More  satisfactory  is  the  position  assigned  to  Dennis 
by  Mr.  William  Roberts,44  who  has  pointed  out  modestly  yet 
convincingly  how  the  critic  has  as  yet  not  received  his  just  due. 
Mr.  Edmund  Gosse,  too,  has  indicated  in  his  various  writings 
on  this  period  some  of  the  features  for  which  Dennis's  work 
deserves  to  be  remembered.  Last  of  all  we  may  note  that  in 
his  History  of  Criticism  Mr.  Saintsbury  gives45  a  rather  per- 
functory account  of  Dennis,  comparing  him  with  Rymer,  and 
finding  in  him  the  worst  of  a  breed  of  critics  of  which  Johnson 
was  the  best. 

*°  Calamities   of  Authors,   London,    1867,   pp.    52   ff. 

"Critical  and  Miscellaneous  Writings  of  Thomas  Noon  Talfourd,  Phila- 
delphia, 1842. 

42  Imaginary  Conversations,  Crump  ed.,  IV,  275. 
^St.  James's  Gazette,  November  8,  1895. 
Vol. 


46  II,   43*. 


212 

But,  after  all,  Dennis's  importance  for  us  lies  not  so  much  in 
the  specific  doctrines  he  maintained,  as  in  the  fact  that  he  was 
one  of  the  earliest  of  his  nation  to  devote  the  best  of  a  life  to 
criticism.  Through  his  long  and  toilsome  career  he  battled 
loyally  for  what  he  considered  right  standards  of  judgment, 
encouraged  the  appreciation  of  the  greater  poetry,  and  held 
contemporary  literature  to  answer  for  its  faults.  Despite  his 
dogmatism,  despite  the  bitter  conflicts  and  ridicule  of  his  later 
life,  Dennis  gained  a  certain  recognition  for  the  significance 
of  the  critic's  work,  and  he  helped  force  a  consideration  of  the 
"  still-vexed  "  question  of  the  value  and  utility  of  criticism. 


LIST   OF  DENNIS'S   WRITINGS 

1682.  Upon  the  Fleet  then  fitting  out.  Written  in  1682.  In- 
cluded in  the  Works  in  1718/19.  It  is  not  known 
whether  this  poem  was  ever  published  separately. 

1692.  The  tenth  Ode  of  the  Second  Book  of  Horace  imitated. 
In  the  Gentleman's  Journal:  or  the  Monthly  Miscel- 
lany for  May. 

1692.     Upon  our  Victory  at  Sea,  Ibid,  for  June. 

1692.  Part  of  Juvenal's  eighth  Satyr,  English' d,  Ibid,  for 
October. 

1692.  Verses  to  a  Painter,  drawing  the  Picture  of  a  beautiful 
Lady,  Ibid,  for  November. 

1692.  Poems  In  Burlesque;  With  a  Dedication  in  Burlesque, 
to  Fleetwood  Shepherd,  Esquire. 

1692.  The  Passion  of  Byblis,  made  English  by  Mr.  Dennis. 
1692/3.     To  Sylvia,  an  Excuse  for  having  lov'd  another  m  her 

Absence,  Gentleman's  Journal;  or  the  Monthly  Mis- 
cellany for  January. 

1693.  The  Impartial  Critick,  or,  Some  Observations  upon  a 

late  book  entitul'd  A  Short  view  of  tragedy,  written 
by  Mr.  Rymer. 
1693.     Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose. 

1695.  The  Court  of  Death;  a  Pindarique  Poem,  dedicated  to 

the  Memory  of  her  most  Sacred  Majesty,  Queen 
Mary. 

1696.  Remarks  on  a  Book,  entitul'd  Prince  Arthur,  an  Heroic 

Poem}  with  some  General  Critical  Observations,  and 
Several  New  Remarks  upon  Virgil. 

1696.  Letters  on  Milton  and  Congreve.  This  book  has  ap- 
parently been  lost. 

1696.  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions:  Written  by  and  be- 
tween Mr.  Dryden,  Mr.  Wycherley,  Mr.  , 

Mr.  Congreve,  and  Mr.  Dennis.  Published  by  Mr. 
Dennis.  With  a  New  Translation  of  Select  Letters 
of  Monsieur  Voiture. 

213 


214 

1 697.     The  Nuptuals  of  Britain's  Genius  and  Fame:  a  Pin- 

darick  Poem  on  the  Peace. 
1697.     A  Plot  and  No  Plot;  a  Comedy,  as  it  is  Acted  at  the 

Theatre-Royal  in  Drury-Lane. 

1697.  Miscellany  Poems,  By  Mr.  Dennis.     With  Select  Trans- 

lations of  Horace,  Juvenal,  Mons.  Boileau's  Epistles, 
Satyrs,  and  Aesop's  Fables  in  Burlesque  Verse.  To 
which  is  added,  The  Passion  of  Byblis,  with  some 
Critical  Reflections  on  Mr.  Oldham  and  his  Writings, 
With  Letters  and  Poems.  The  Second  Edition  with 
large  Additions. 

1698.  The  Usefulness  of  the  Stage  to  the  Happiness  of  Man- 

kind, to  Government  and  to  Religion.    Occasion'dby  a 
Late  Book  Written  by  Jeremy  Collier,  M.  A. 
1698.     Prologue  for  Oldmixon's  Amintas  a  Pastoral. 

1698.  Rinaldo  and  Armida,  a  Tragedy,  as  it  is  Acted  at  the 

Theatre  in  Little-Line oln's-Inn-Fields. 

1699.  Iphigenia,  a  Tragedy,  acted  at  the  Theatre  in  Little 

Line  oln's-Inn-Fields. 

1701.  The  Advancement  and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry. 

A  Critical  Discourse  in  Two  Parts.  The  First,  Shew- 
ing that  the  Principal  Reason  why  the  Ancients  excel'd 
the  Moderns  in  the  Greater  Poetry,  was  because  they 
mix'd  Religion  with  Poetry.  The  Second,  Proving 
that  by  joining  Poetry  with  the  Religion  reveal 'd  to 
us  in  Sacred  Writ,  the  Modern  Poets  might  come  to 
equal  the  Ancients. 

1701  (?).  The  Seamen's  Case.  Nothing  is  known  of  this 
pamphlet  beyond  the  name  and  the  fact  that  the  Essay 
on  the  Navy,  1702,  on  its  title  page  bears  the  state- 
ment "  By  the  Author  of  the  Seamen's  Case." 

1702.  The  Comical  Gallant;  or  the  Amours  of  Sir  John  Fal- 

staffe.  A  Comedy  as  it  is  Acted  at  the  Theatre-Royal 
in  Drury  Lane  by  His  Majesty's  Servants  By  Mr. 
Dennis  To  Which  is  Added  a  Large  Account  of  the 
Taste  in  Poetry  and  the  Causes  of  the  Degeneracy 
of  it. 
1702.  The  Danger  of  Priestcraft  to  Religion  and  Govern- 


215 

ment — Occasioned  by  a  Discourse  of  Mr.  Sachever ell's 
intitul'd:  The  Political  Union. 

1702.  The  Monument:  A  Poem  Sacred  to  the  Immortal 
Memory  of  the  Best  &  Greatest  of  Kings,  William 
the  Third  King  of  Great  Britain  &c. 

1702.  An  Essay  on  the  Navy,  or  England's  Advantage  and 

Safety,  prov'd  Dependant  on  a  Formidable  and  well- 
Disciplin'd  Navy:  and  the  Encrease  and  Encourage- 
ment of  the  Seamen. 

1703.  A  Proposal  for  Putting  a  Speedy  End  to  the  War,  by 

Ruining  the  Commerce  of  the  French  and  the 
Spaniards  and  securing  our  own,  without  any  addi- 
tional Expense  to  the  Nation. 

1704.  The  Person  of  Quality's  Answer  to  Mr.  Collier's  Letter, 

being  a  Dissuasive  from  the  Play-house. 

1704.  Liberty  Asserted.  A  Tragedy  as  it  is  Acted  at  the 
New  Theatre  in  Little  Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. 

1704.  The  Grounds  of  Criticism  in  Poetry,  contain' d  in  some  < 
New  Discoveries  never  made  before,  requisite  for  the 
Writing  and  Judging  of  Poems  surely.  Being  a  Pre- 
liminary to  a  larger  Work  design' d  to  be  publish'd  in 
Folio,  and  Entitul'd,  A  Criticism  upon  our  Most 
Celebrated  English  Poets  Deceas'd. 

1704.  Britannia    Triumphans:    or    the    Empire    Sav'd,    and 

Europe  Delivered,  by  the  Success  of  her  Majesty's 
Forces  under  the  Wise  and  Heroick  Conduct  of  his 
Grace  the  Duke  of  Marlborough.  A  Poem. 

1705.  Gibraltar:  or  the  Spanish  Adventure.     A  Comedy  as  it 

was  Acted  at  the  Theatre  in  Drury  Lane. 

1706.  An  Essay  on  the   Operas  after  the  Italian  Manner, 

which  are  about  to  be  establish'd  on  the  English 
Stage:  With  some  Reflections  on  the  Damage  which 
they  may  bring  to  the  Publick. 

1706.  The  Battle  of  Ramillia:  or,  the  Power  of  Union.     A 

Poem.     In  Five  Books. 

1707.  Prologue  to  the  Subscribers  for  Julius  Caesar,  Spoken 

by  Mr.  Betterton,  Written  by  Mr.  Dennis.  In  the 
Muses  Mercury  for  January. 


216 

1707.  The  Masque  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  Ibid,  for 
February. 

1707.  Song,  and  Epitaph  Writ  by  Boileau  for  his  Mother's 

Tombstone,  Ibid,  for  April. 

1708.  The  Character  of  a  True  Friend,  in  the  Oxford  and 

Cambridge  Miscellanies. 

1709.  Appius  and  Virginia.     A  Tragedy  as  it  is  Acted  at  the 

Theatre-Royal  in  Drury-Lane,  by  Her  Majesty's 
Sworn  Servants. 

1709.  A  Collection  of  Divine  Hymns  and  Poems  on  Several 
Occasions:  By  the  E.  of  Roscommon,  Mr.  Dryden, 
Mr.  Dennis,  Mr.  Norris,  Mrs.  Kath.  Phillips,  Philo- 
mela, and  others.  Most  of  them  never  before  Printed. 

1711.  Reflections  upon  a  late  Rhapsody  called  An  Essay  upon 
Criticism. 

1711.  An  Essay  upon  Public k  Spirit:  being  a  Satyr  in  Prose 

upon  the  Manners  and  Luxury  of  the  Times,  the  Chief 
Source  of  our  present  Parties  and  Diversions. 

1712.  An  Essay  on  the  Genius  and  Writings  of  Shakespear: 

with  Some  Letters  of  Criticism  to  the  Spectator. 

1713.  Remarks  upon  Cato,  A  Tragedy. 

1714.  A  Poem  upon  the  Death  of  Her  Late  Sacred  Majesty 

Queen  Anne,  and  the  Most  Happy  and  Most  Au- 
spicious Accession  of  his  Sacred  Majesty  King 
George,  To  the  Imperial  Crowns  of  Great  Britain, 
France  and  Ireland.  With  an  Exhortation  to  all  True 
Britons  to  Unity. 

1715.  Priestcraft  Distinguish' d  from  Christianity. 

1716.  A  True  Character  of  Mr.  Pope,  &c  To  Mr.  . 

Probably  by  Dennis. 

1717.  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Translation  of  Homer;  with 

Two  Letters  concerning  Windsor  Forest,  and  the 
Temple  of  Fame. 

1717.  Proposals  for  Printing  by  Subscription  the  Select 
Works  of  Mr.  John  Dennis,  In  Two  Volumes  Octavo. 

1718/19.     Select  Works. 

1720.  The  Invader  of  His  Country:  or  The  Fatal  Resent- 
ment. A  Tragedy,  As  it  is  Acted  at  the  Theatre- 
Royal  in  Drury-Lane,  By  His  Majesty's  Servants. 


217 

1720.  The  Character  and  Conduct  of  Sir  John  Edgar,  Call'd 
by  Himself  Sole  Monarch  of  the  Stage  in  Drury- 
Lane;  and  his  Three  Deputy  Governors.  In  two 
Letters  to  Sir  John  Edgar. 

1720.  The  Character  and  Conduct  of  Sir  John  Edgar,  and  his 

Three  Deputy  Governors,  During  the  Administration 
of  the  late  separate  Ministry.  In  a  Third  and  Fourth 
Letter  to  the  Knight.  With  a  Picture  of  Sir  John, 
Drawn  by  a  Pen,  exactly  after  the  Life. 

1721.  Proposals  for  printing  by  Subscription  in  two  Volumes 

in  Octavo  the  following  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  written 
by  J.  D.  i.  The  Advancement  and  Reformation  of 
Modern  Poetry,  n.  Rinaldo  and  Armida,  a  tragedy, 
etc. 

1721.  Original  Letters,  Familiar,  Moral  and  Critical.    In  Two 

Volumes. 

1722.  Julius  Caesar  acquitted,  and  his  Murderers  condemn' d, 

in  a  Letter  to  a  Friend:  shewing  that  it  was  not 
Caesar  who  destroyed  the  Roman  Liberties,  but  the 
Corruption  of  the  Romans  themselves.  Occasioned 
by  two  Letters  in  the  London  Journal  on  the  2d  and 
pth  of  Dec. 

1722.  A  Defence  of  Sir  Fopling  Flutter,  A  Comedy.  Written 
by  Sir  George  Etheridge.  In  which  Defense  is 
shewn,  That  Sir  Fopling,  that  Merry  Knight,  zvas 
rightly  composed  by  the  Knight  his  Father  to  answer 
the  Ends  of  Comedy;  and  that  he  has  been  barbar- 
ously and  scurrilously  attack' d  by  the  Knight  his 
Brother,  in  the  6$th  Spectator.  By  which  it  appears 
that  the  Latter  Knight  knows  nothing  of  the  Nature 
of  Comedy. 

1722.  A   Short  Essay   toward  an  English  Prosody,  in  the 

second  edition  of  James  Greenwood's  An  Essay 
towards  a  Practical  English  Grammar. 

1723.  Remarks  on  a  Play,  call'd  The  Conscious  Lovers,  a 

Comedy. 

1724.  Vice  and  Luxury  Public  Mischiefs:  or  Remarks  on  a 

Book  Intitul'd  The  Fable  of  the  Bees;  or  Private 
Vices  Public  Benefits. 


218 

1726.  The  Stage  Defended  from  Scripture,  Reason  and  the 

Common  Sense  of  Mankind  for  Two  Thousand 
Years.  Occasioned  by  Mr.  Law's  late  Pamphlet 
against  Stage  Entertainments.  In  a  Letter  to . 

1727.  Miscellaneous  Tracts  written  by  Mr.  John  Dennis  in 

Two  Volumes.  Vol.  I  Containing  I  The  Advance- 
ment and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry.  II 
Rinaldo  and  Armida,  A  Tragedy.  Ill  An  Answer  to 
Mr.  Collier's  Short  View  of  the  Stage.  Only  one 
volume  was  ever  published. 

1728.  Letter  against  Mr.  Pope  at  Large,  Daily  Journal,  May 

ii. 

1728  (  ?).  The  Faith  and  Duties  of  Christians.  A  Treatise  in 
Eight  Chapters — Written  originally  in  Latin  by  the 
late  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Burnet,  Master  of  the  Charter- 
House.  Translated  into  English  by  Mr.  Dennis. 

1728.  Remarks  on  Mr.  Pope's  Rape  of  the  Lock.     In  Several 

Letters  to  a  Friend.  With  a  Preface,  Occasioned  by 
the  late  Treatise  on  the  Profound  and  the  Dunciad. 

1729.  Remarks  upon  Several  Passages  in  the  Preliminaries  to 

the  Dunciad,  both  in  the  Quarto  and  in  the  duodecimo 
edition,  and  upon  several  Passages  in  Pope's  Preface 
to  his  Translation  of  Homer's  Iliad }  In  both  of  which 
is  shewn  the  Author's  want  of  Judgment.  With 
Original  Letters  from  Sir  Richard  Steele,  from  the 
late  Mr.  Gildon,  from  Mr.  Jacob,  and  from  Mr.  Pope 
himself,  which  shew  the  Falsehood  of  the  latter,  his 
Envy,  and  his  Malice. 

1733.  A  Treatise  concerning  the  State  of  Departed  Souls 
Before,  and  At,  and  After  the  Resurrection.  Writ- 
ten originally  in  Latin  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas 
Burnet,  Master  of  the  Charter-House,  Author  of  the 
Theory  of  the  Earth.  Translated  into  English  by  Mr. 
Dennis. 

1817.  A  letter  To  the  Rev.  Dr.  xxx  and  part  of  an  essay — 
The  Causes  of  the  Decay  and  Defects  of  Dramatick 
Poetry;  and  of  the  Degeneracy  of  the  Publick  Taste, 
in  the  Monthly  Magazine,  June  i. 


INDEX. 


Accession     of     King     George:     see 

Poem    upon    the    death    of    .    .    . 

Queen  Anne. 
Account    of    the    greatest    English 

Poets,  An:  igi. 
Addison,    Joseph:    4,    gn.,    13,    i6n., 

22.,  son.,  33,  36,  52,  54,  65-72,  97, 

112,     I22n.,     I24n.,     131,     155,     165, 

1 66,     168,     173,     178,     188,     191, 
19311.,    194,    195,    203,    207,    208, 

210,    211. 

Advancement  and  Reformation,  the : 
4n.,  16,  29,  38,  49-50,  102,  in, 
n6n.,  136,  140,  141,  198,  214. 

Advancement  of  Learning:  128. 

Aeneid,  the:  131,  163. 

Aesop :  2in.,  161. 

Alchemist,  the :  189. 

Alfred:  20211. 

All  for  Love:  72,  12311.,  15211.,  195. 

Amintas :  37,  20111. 

Anacreon :  21. 

Ancients  and  Moderns:  140,  151. 

Andria:  83. 

Anecdotes,   Spence's :    88n. 

Answer  to  a  Whimsical  Pamphlet, 
An:  74,  79. 

Apollonius  Rhodius :  non. 

Apology  for  the  Life  of  Mr.  Colley 
Cibber,  An :  4on. 

Apology   for   Poetry,    Harrington's : 

159. 

Appius  and  Virginia:  44-45,  ioin., 
216. 

Arbuthnot,  Dr.  John:  89,  91,  94, 
io6n.,  202. 

Aristotle:  6sn.,  112,  116,  117,  120, 
i25n.,  126,  130,  141,  146,  147, 
148,  149,  154,  158,  160,  161,  162, 
163,  165,  167,  168,  174,  175,  194. 

Arnold,  Matthew:  92. 


Ars  Poetica:  130. 
Art  of  Poetry,  Newbery's :  2o6n. 
Art  Poetique,  Vauquelin's :  138. 
Athenian  Mercury:  i82n. 
Atterbury,       Francis,       Bishop       of 

Rochester:   6n.,   104,   191. 
Aureng-Zebe :  134. 
Autumn:  2o6n. 
Ayre,  Wm. :  37n.,  192,  202. 

Bacon,  Francis:  121,  128,  142,  162, 
163. 

Ballad,  the:  177-178. 

Barry,  Mrs.  Elizabeth:  41. 

Bartas,  Du:  138. 

Bathurst,  Allen,  Earl  of:  i8n.,  27n. 

Battle  of  Aghrin :  ioin. 

Battle  of  Ramillies :  see  Poem  on 
the  Battle,  etc. 

Battle  of  the  Poets:  209. 

Beauties   and   faults:    124-125,    157. 

Beckingham,  Chas. :   75. 

Bedford,  Arthur:  52n. 

Bentley,  Richard:  53. 

Betterton,  Thos. :  3gn.,  41,  45. 

Bibliographers'  Manual:  ioin.,  io7n. 

Bibliotheca:  203n. 

Blackmore,  Sir  Richard:  9,  29,  30, 
Sin.,  72,  73,  gon.,  98,  109,  in, 
n6n.,  i22n.,  i32n.,  i4on.,  i47n., 
I53,  !56,  160,  i63n.,  166,  176,  202, 
205,  2o6n.,  207. 

Bladen,  Martin:  44n.,  57. 

Blount,  Martha:  ign. 

Boileau:  13,  21,  30,  65,  gon.,  109, 
112,  115,  119,  129,  134,  137,  138, 
152,  157,  158,  159,  175,  177,  178, 

195,   202. 

Bolingbroke,   Henry   St.  John,   Vis- 
count :  56. 
Bookworm,  the:  45n.,  gon.,  10511. 


219 


220 


Booth,  Barton:  41,  44,  75,  10311. 

Bossuet:  15511. 

Bouhours :  121,  124,  156. 

Bowles,  W.  L. :  210. 

Boyer,  Abel :  26-27. 

Bracegirdle,  Mrs.  Anne:  41. 

Brady,  Dr.  Robert:  2. 

Britannia  Triumphans,  or  the  Battle 

of  Blenheim:   36,   42,    ioin.,   139, 

16911.,  192,  215. 

Brown,  Tom:   18,   2in.,  29,   sin. 
Buckinghamshire,      Duke     of :      see 

Mulgrave. 
Bullock,  Wm. :  40. 
Burnet,  Thos. :  57,  103,  104. 
Burnet,  Sir  Thos. :  96. 
Butler,    Samuel:    15,   20,   83n.,   gon., 

177,  196. 

Caecilius :  134. 

Caesar :  36,  62. 

Cambridge  Gesta  Book:  2. 

Caryll,  John :  7on. 

Catiline:  28. 

Cato :  67,  68-69,  131. 

Censor,  the:  6sn.,  91,  93. 

Censor  Censured,  the :  84. 

Chapelain :  115. 

Character  and  Conduct  of  Sir  John 

Edgar,  the:  77n.,  78,  79n.,  217. 
Characteristics :  i 7. 
Character    of    a    Low    Churchman: 

47- 

Character  of  a  True  Friend:   38. 
Chaucer,    Geoffrey:    gon.,    127,    184, 

185. 

Cheek,  Thos.:  i8n. 
Chevy  Chase:   178,  209. 
Chorus,  attempts  to  restore  the  :  154- 

155,  174-175. 
Christian  religion  and  poetry:   137- 

142,  204-206. 
Gibber,  Colley :  24n.,  37n.,  39n.,  40, 

44,  58n.,  71-72,  75,  76-77,  78,  91, 

106,  i7in.,  209. 
Gibber.  Theophilus  :   106. 


Cicero:   129,  179. 

Cinna:  147. 

Cleland,  Will :  96. 

Codrington,   Christopher :   26. 

Coleridge,  S.  T. :  211. 

Collection  of  Divine  Hymns,  A :  38, 

205,  216. 
Collection    of   Pieces  .  .  .  published 

on  Occasion  of  the  Dunciad,  A: 

98. 
Collier,  Jeremy:  2,  9,  24,  30-31,  51, 

64,    65,    102,    no,    112,    117,    121, 

i47n.,  i8in. 
Comedy:   170-172. 

Comical    Gallant,    the:    38-41,    214. 
Comparison       between       the       Two 

Stages,    A:    5n.,    13,    23n.,    25n., 

26n.,  91,   i97n. 
Compleat   Collection,   etc.,   A:   96n., 

98. 
Complete  Art  of  Poetry:  son.,  112, 

n6n.,  205. 
Congreve,  William:  10-11,  i6n.,  18, 

19,    23,   24,   28,    30,    33,    7on.,    71, 

82n.,    93,    ioin.,    102,    io3n.,    104, 

i35n.,  142,  i47n.,  i7in.,  176,  196. 
Conscious  Lovers,  the :  80,  81-84. 
Cook,  Thos.:  104,  105,  209. 
Cooper's  Hill:  92. 
Coriolanus:  63,  75,  166,  187,  188. 
Corneille,  Pierre:  sn.,  109,  115,  116, 

138,  147,  162,  i7on.,  172. 
Corneille,  Thos. :  sn. 

Court  of  Death  .  .  .  to  the  Memory 
of  .  .  .  Queen  Mary:  isn.,  22, 
23,  ioin.,  i35n.,  175,  i76n.,  213. 

Cowley,    Abraham:    8n.,    121,    138, 

139,  176,  190. 
Cowper,  Wm. :  210. 
Creation,  the :  30,  205. 

Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century:  107,  i23n.,  i24n.,  i62n. 

Critical  Specimen,  the:  in.,  3 in., 
42n.,  S5n.,  56n.,  66,  i8in. 

Critic  no  Wit,  A :  76,  78n. 


221 


Critique    de    I'Ecole    des    Femmes: 

11911. 
Cromwell,    Henry  :    67,    80,    86,    94, 

178. 

Crowue,  John:  8sn.,  196. 
Curll,  Edward:  ign.,  98,  io6n. 

Dacier:   6sn.,   112,   116,   i25n.,   129, 

142,  147,  issn.,  167,  168,  174,  176. 
Daily  Journal:  96. 
Danger  of  Priestcraft,  etc.:   47-48, 

join.,  214. 
Darby,  John:    101. 
Davenant,  Sir  Wm.  :  121,  138. 
Davideis:  138. 
Day's  Ramble  in  Co-vent  Garden,  A  : 

20. 
Death    of    Queen   Anne:    see   Poem 

upon    the   death    of   .   .   .    Queen 

Anne, 
Defense  of  Sir  Fopling  Flutter,  A: 

8in.,  217. 

Defense  of  the  Epilogue:  186. 
Defense  of  .  .  .  the  Plain  Dealer: 

1  02. 
Defense  of  the  Short  View,  etc.,  A  : 


De  Fide  et  Officiis  Christianorum  : 
103. 

Defoe,  Daniel:  14,  3in.,  47,  48,  60, 
155,  2o8n. 

Denham,  Sir  John  :  83n.,  gon.,  92, 
181,  196. 

Dennis,  John  :  education,  1-4  ; 
travels  on  the  continent,  4-6  ; 
relations  with  Dryden,  Congreve, 
and  Wycherley,  6-19  ;  his  patrons, 
I4-I7,  33-34,  56-57;  his  poems, 
19-23,  35-38  ;  plays,  23-27,  38-45  ; 
critical  writings,  27-31,  49-53, 
63-65  ;  political  pamphlets,  46-49, 
61-63  ;  waitership,  33,  58-60  ; 
financial  troubles,  57-60;  relations 
with  Addison,  65-72  ;  with  Steele, 
72-84  ;  with  Swift,  84-85  ;  with 
Pope,  86-99  J  collections  and  re- 
publications,  99-103  ;  translations, 


103-104:  his  last  years,  104-100; 
posthumous  publications  and  re- 
publications,  107;  outline  of  his 
critical  career,  108-114;  his  judg- 
ments of  English  writers,  185- 
196;  his  style,  198-199;  his  con- 
tributions to  criticism,  199-202 ; 
his  influence,  202—210  ;  posthumous 
reputation,  209-211. 

Design  of  .  .  .  Ecclesiastes :   i82n. 

Desmaretes  de  Saint-Sorlin :  121, 
138. 

De  Statu  Mortuorum:  io3n.,  104. 

Devonshire,  William  Cavendish, 
Duke  of:  33,  sin. 

Dibdin,  Chas. :  210. 

Dictionary  of  National  Biography: 
43- 

Dilke,  Chas.  Wentworth :  6gn. 

Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus :  112. 

Discourse  concerning  .  .  .  Satire: 
15,  H5n. 

Discourse  on  Comedy:  143. 

Disraeli,  Isaac:  211. 

Dissuasive  from  the  Play  House,  A : 
3i,  Si- 

Doddington,  George:  i67n. 

Dorset,  Chas.  Sackville,  Earl  of : 
7,  15,  33,  39".,  190. 

Double  Dealer,  the:   u,   142. 

Dryden,  John:  6-10,  12,  13,  14,  16, 
i7n.,  i8n.,  19,  20,  27n.,  29,  31, 
38n.,  49,  54,  66,  74,  83n.,  89,  9on., 
94n.,  ioin.,  109,  no,  in,  112, 
115,  u6n.,  118,  121,  123,  124, 
126-128,  131,  132,  134,  135,  137, 
138,  145,  147,  148,  150,  151,  i52n., 
154,  157,  J59,  i6m.,  163,  167,  i7on., 
i7in.,  172,  173,  i74n.,  176,  177. 
182,  184,  185,  186,  188,  190,  191, 
195-196,  211. 

Du  Bellay:   115. 

Duckett,  George:  57,  96. 

Dunciad,  the:  13,  94,  95,  97. 

Eccles,  John :  25. 
Edgar:  174,  i83n. 


222 


Eighteenth      Century      Essays      on 

Shakespeare:  107. 
Emotion    as   basis    of   poetry:    135, 

140-141,  156,  203-204. 
Enthusiasm:   136,  150. 
Epic,  the:   ispff. 
Epigrams,  T.  Brown's :  29. 
Epistle  to  Sir  Richard  Steele,  An: 

82,  202n. 

Epitaph  Writ  by  Boileau:  216. 
Essay  concerning  the  Human  Under- 
standing, An:  136. 
Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  An:    15, 

115,  i74n. 

Essay  on  Criticism,  An:  45,   199. 
Essay  on   the  Genius  and   Writings 

of  Shakespear,  An :  63,  64,  67,  68, 

73n. 
Essay   on   the  Italian   Operas,  An: 

51,  52,  iom.,  215. 
Essay  on  the  Navy,  An :  46,  48,  215. 
Essay  Supplementary  to  the  Preface 

to  the  Lyrical  Ballads:  206. 
Essay  upon  Publick  Spirit,  An :  62, 

iom.,  216. 
Essays     of    John     Dry  den:     i39n., 

1 6 in.,   i86n. 
Etheredge,  Sir  George:  80,  81,  Szn., 

196. 

Euripides:  25,  29,  no,  186,  187. 
Eusden,  Lawrence :  98. 
Evils  and  Dangers  of  Stage  Plays, 

the :  S2n. 

Examiner,  the:   85. 
Exton,  Sir  Thos. :  3. 

Fable  of  the  Bees,  the:  62. 

Fables,  La  Fontaine's :  22n. 

Fables,  L'Estrange's,  21. 

Faerie  Queen,  the:  186. 

Faith  and  Duties  of  Christians,  the : 

103,  218. 

Farmer,   Dr.   Richard:   2,   sn.,    187. 
Farquhar,  George :   143. 
Fiddes,  Richard :  62n. 
Fielding,  Henry:  82n.,  113. 


Filmer,   Edward:    ii7n. 
Fool  of  Fashion,  the:  80. 
French  critics:  116,  147,  160. 
Full    Consideration    of     Sir    John 
Edgar,  A :  jgn. 

Garth,  Dr.  Samuel:  2,  33,  50. 
Gay,  John:   59,   88-89,   Qi,  93,   158, 

202,  203. 

Geneste,  John:  106. 
Gentleman's  Journal,  the:  19. 
Gentleman's     Magazine,    the:    s8n., 

iosn.,  106. 

Gibraltar:  42-43,  215. 
Gildon,   Chas. :    in.,   13,   35,   39,   90, 

94,    97,    i03n.,    112,    n6n.,    i66n., 

167,  169,  174,  188,  191,  202,  204n., 

205. 

Glenham,  Chas. :  2n. 
Godolphin,  Sidney,  Earl  of :  33,  37n., 

42,  49,  64. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver :  205-206. 
Gondibert:   138. 
Goodall,  Chas.:  i82n.,  189. 
Gosse,  Edmund:  29,  211. 
Graphic    Illustrations    of    Hogarth: 

59n. 

Great  Favourite,  the:  124. 
Grounds  of  Criticism,  the :   38,   50- 

51,     iom.,    in,    i2on.,    136-137, 

140,    141,    145,    146,    193,    i94n., 

198,  206,  215. 
Grub  Street  Journal,  the :  98. 

Haines,  Joe:  24. 

Halifax,   Chas.  Montague,  Earl  of': 

12,    15-16,   37,   39n.,   52,  56n.,   58, 

64,  65,  104. 
Hamelius,     Professor     Paul :     73n., 

121,  i26n. 
Hare,  Francis:  85. 
Hare,  Henry:  190. 
Harlequin  Horace,  the:  i93n..  2 ion. 
Harrington,  Sir  John:   159. 
Havens,  R.  D. :    i82n.,   189. 
Hazlitt,  Wm. :  205. 


223 


Henley,   Anthony:    33,    34,   41,    sin. 
Henry  IV  of  France:  75. 
Hermogenes  :  141. 
Heroic  Daughter,  the:    71,  78n. 
Hill,  Aaron:   99,   iO3n.,   106,   i8in., 


History  of  Criticism,  A:  211. 
Hobbes,  Thos.  :   118,  119,  125,  131- 

!32>  !33>  JSo,  ig8n. 
Homer:    non.,    116,    142,    144,    149, 

161,  i8sn.,  190,  193,  194. 
Homer's   Battle    of    the    Frogs    and 

Mice:  93,  94. 
Horace:  13,  19,  21,  non.,  112,  116, 

117,    iign.,    120,    i25n.,    129,    130, 

134,  146,  i47n.,  154,  157,  162,  177, 

178. 

Horn,  Dr.  William:   i. 
Howard,  Sir  Robert:  124,  125. 
Ho  well,  James:   18. 
Hudibras:  21,  gon.,  177. 
Hudson,  Benj.  :  58. 
Hurd,    Richard,    Bishop    of    Roches- 

ter :  2o6n. 

Hutchinson,   Francis  :    62n. 
Hypollitus  :  29. 

Iliad,  the  :  91. 

Imagination  :  1  3  i-i  34. 

Imitation  :   1  29-1  3  1  . 

Imitation   of  Horace,  An  :   89. 

Impartial  Critick,  the  :  9,  27-28,  63, 

84,  107,  109,  i27n.,  154,  173,  213. 
In    Defense     of    Mr.     Wycherley's 

Characters    in    the    Plain-dealer: 

11-12. 
Invader  of  his  Country,  the  :  44,  45, 

54n,  57,  75-77,  80,  216. 
Iphigenia:  4n.,  16,  25-27,  28,  loin., 

214. 

Iphigenia  in  Taurus:  25. 
Italian  critics  :  i46n. 

Jacob,  Giles:  36,  43,  97,  99n.,  no, 

192,  202. 
Jerusalem  Delivered:  25. 


John  Dennis,   the  Sheltering  Poet's 

Invitation:  60,  74,  8sn. 
John  Dennis  to  Mr.  Thomson:  iosn. 
Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel :  29n.,  son.,  92, 

96,  98n.,   107,   143,   166,   172,   173, 

i84n.,  i88n.,  208-209,  211. 
Jonson,    Ben:    83n.,    115,    121,    129, 

i32n.,    142,    152,    162,    170,    172, 

188-189. 

Julius  Caesar:  28,  187. 
Julius  Caesar  Acquitted:  62,  217. 
Jure  Divino :  2o8n. 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  the:  23. 
Juvenal:  13,  19,  127,  176,  177. 

King,  Dr.  William :  203. 
King  and  No  King:  130. 
Kippis,  Dr.  Andrew :  sn.,  106. 
Kritik  in  der  Englischen  Literatur, 
Die :  73n.,  i26n. 

La  Bruyere:    112,   124,   125,   156. 

La  Fontaine:  21,  22n.,  2O4n. 

Lamb,  Charles:   i77n.,  211. 

Landor,  W.  S. :  211. 

Langbaine,  Gerard:  in.,  13. 

Language,  decorum  in,  117,  119; 
perfection  in,  156;  figures  in 
poetry,  181. 

Lansdowne,  George  Granville,  Lord: 
16,  33,  39,  40,  51,  63,  99,  118. 

Large  Account  of  our  Most  Cele- 
brated English  Poets  Deceas'd, 
A:  2n.,  50,  101,  157. 

Large  Account  of  the  Taste  in 
Poetry,  A:  8n.,  40,  in,  153,  155, 
157,  i64n.,  169,  I7in.,  198,  211. 

Law,  Wm. :  31,  62n.,  64,  144. 

Legal  Conviction  of  Mr.  Alexander 
Pope,  the:  98. 

Leslie,  the  Rev.  Chas. :  48. 

Letter,  the:  178-179. 

letter  against  Mr.  Pope  at  Large: 
96,  218. 

Letter       concerning       Enthusiasm : 


224 


Letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  : 

107,  2ig. 

Letters  and  Essays  on  Several  Sub- 
jects: 13. 

Letters  from  the  Dead  to  the  living: 
1 8. 

Letters  on  Milton  and  Congreve: 
10,  28,  213. 

Letters  upon  Several  Occasions:  711., 
8,  ion.,  17,  i8n.,  ioin.,  178,  213. 

Liberty  Asserted:  14,  34,  40-43,  49, 
ioin.,  215. 

Life  of  Addison:  208. 

Life  of  Mr.  John  Dennis,  the:  1511., 
4on.,  1 06. 

Lintot,  Bernard:  42,  45n.,  68-69, 
9on.,  92. 

Literary  Anecdotes  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century:  45n. 

Lives  of  Edward  and  John  Phillips: 
28. 

Lives  of  the  Poets,  Gibber's :  33n., 
4<m.,  58,  76,  77,  209. 

Lives  of  the  Poets,  Johnson's :  2gn. 

Livy :  44,  188. 

Locke,  John:  i6n.,  119,  136. 

Longinus :  124,  134,  141,  147,  157, 
179,  199. 

Love  in  tragedies:   169-170. 

Lowell,  J.  R. :  10,  92,  173,  211. 

Lucretius:  30,  non. 

Luttrell,   Narcissus:    sn.,   3 in. 

Lycophron :  non. 

"  Machines :"   139-140. 

Mallet,     David:     44n.,     I03n.,     105, 

i8in. 

Mandeville,  Bernard :  62,  63. 
Manley,  Mrs.  Delariviere :   5 in. 
Man  of  Mode,  the:  80,  81. 
Marlborough,  John   Churchill,   Duke 

of:    33,    35,    36,    37,   4in.,   64,   85, 

139- 

Martyn,  John:  105. 
Marvell,   Andrew:    i8in. 
Maynwaring,  Arthur:  14,  44,  8sn. 


Measure  for  Measure:  39. 

Memoirs  of  the  Life  .  .  .  of  Sir 
Richard  Steele :  2 ion. 

Memoirs  of  the  Life  .  .  .  of  William 
Congreve:  nn.,  7on. 

Merchant  of   Venice,  the:   39. 

Mere:  124. 

Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  the :  38, 
39- 

Miller,  the  Rev.  Jas. :  i93n.,  2 ion. 

Milton,  John:  9,  10,  28,  37,  51,  72, 
83n.,  102,  non.,  in,  121,  123, 
127,  128,  135,  140,  141,  144,  145, 
146,  149,  151,  158,  175,  180,  181- 
182,  185,  189-195,  200,  202,  206- 
208. 

Mirror,  or  Letters  Satyrical,  the : 
98n. 

Miscellaneous  Letters:  191. 

Miscellaneous  Tracts:  n,  94,  102, 
218. 

Miscellanies,  Tonson's :  9. 

Miscellanies  in  Verse  and  Prose: 
4n.,  15,  21,  27,  134,  177,  182,  213. 

Miscellany   Poems:   2 in.,   214. 

Mohocks,  the:  59,  88-89,  202. 

Moliere:  109,  ngn.,  168,  170-171. 

Montgomery,    H.    R. :    2 ion. 

Monument;  .  .  .  to  the  Memory 
of  .  .  .  William  the  Third,  the: 
33,  36,  ioin.,  215. 

Monthly  Magazine,  the:  107. 

Moralistic  tendency:  120-122;  Den- 
nis's, 137-144. 

Moyle,  Walter:  14,  i6n.,  ssn.,  64, 
ioin. 

Mulgrave,  John  Sheffield,  Earl  of : 
7,  1 6,  33,  39n.,  51,  64,  68,  112, 
n6n.,  118,  147,  167,  175,  190. 

Muses  Mercury:  37-38,  44. 

Muzio :  137. 

Narrative   of   Dr.   R.   Norris,   etc. : 

43,  69,  87n.,  89,  97- 
Neoclassicism :  114-118,  120. 


225 


New      Association       of      Moderate 

Churchmen,  etc.,  the  :  47,  48. 
Newcastle,      Thos.      Pelham-Holles, 

Duke  of:  57,  78,  79-80. 
New  Project  for  the  Regulation  of 

the  Stage,  A  :  9511. 
Newton,   Sir  Isaac:    i6n. 
New     Version    of    the    Psalms    of 

David,  A  :  205. 
Nichols,  John:   nn. 
Nonnus  :  non. 
Normanby,   John   Sheffield,   Marquis 

of:   39n. 

Norton,  Richard:  sin. 
Nuptuals    of    Britain's    Genius    and 

Fame,  the  :  22,  214. 

Observations  on  Paradise  Lost:  72, 

102. 

Ode,  the  :  175-177. 
Oeuvres  d'  Horace:  n6n. 
Oeuvres   Meslees,    St.    fivremond's  : 


Of  Simplicity  in  Poetical  Composi- 

tion: 178. 

Old  Bachelor,  the:   10,  104. 
Oldfield,  Mrs.  Anne:   76. 
Oldham,  John:   20,   2in.,   23n.,    189. 
Oldmixon,  John:  37,  95,  2Oin. 
On  Paradise  Lost:  i8in. 
On  the  Conspiracy  against  the  Repu- 

tation of  Mr.  Dry  den:   127. 
On  the  Moral  .  .  .  of  an  Epic  Poem  : 

166. 

On  the  Poet  Laureate:  97-98. 
On  the  Sublime:   124,   134. 
Original  Letters:  5n.,  7n.,  8n.,  I4n., 

i7n.,   3Sn.,   S5n.,  60,  64,   81,  84n., 

94,    102,    i46n.,    i63n.,    166,   i7in., 

i92n.,  217. 
Ormonde,   James    Butler,    Duke   of  : 

16. 

Orpheus  and  Bury  dice  :  44,  216. 
Othello:  28,  174. 
Otway,  Thos.  :   196. 
Ovid:  19,  20,  no,  118,  207. 

16 


Oxford,  Robert  Harley,  Earl  of:  52, 

96. 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  Miscellanies, 

the:  38. 

Pack,  Richardson:  u. 
Paradise  Lost:  29,  37,  72,  140,  149, 

151,   190,  191,   192,   193,   195,  200. 
Paradise  Regained:  151. 
Paraphrase     upon      the     Canticles: 

i82n. 

Parnell,  Thos.:  93,  161,  203. 
Part    of    Juvenal's    Eighth    Satyr: 

213. 

Passion  of  Byblis,  the:  19,  20. 
Patriotic     tendency,    the:    122-123; 

Dennis's,   144-146. 
Pembroke,   Thos.   Herbert,  Earl  of: 

16,  46,  s6n.,  104. 
Peri    Bathous,    Martin    Scriblerus: 

8sn.,  94. 
Person  of  Quality's  Answer,  A:  31, 

46,  64,  102,  215. 
Perrault:  8,  53. 

Philips,  Ambrose:  83n.,  178,  196. 
Philips,  John:  36n.,  2o6n. 
Philips,  Mrs.  Katherine :  38n. 
Phillips,  Edward:  135,  189. 
Pindar:  non.,  135,  175,  181. 
"  Pindarick :"  see  the  ode. 
Pindarick  Ode  to  the  King:  14. 
Plain  Dealer,  the:  9,  196. 
Plato:  167. 
Plautus:  187. 

Pleiade :   122,  129,  134,  138,  158. 
Pliny  :  179. 
Plot    or    fable:    117,    126,    142-144, 

160-161. 
Plot  and  No  Plot,  A:  15,  23,  24,  31, 

zoin.,  173,  214. 

Poem  on  the  Peace,  A:   i35n. 
Poem  on  the  Battle  of  Ramillia,  A : 

37,  sgn.,  iom.,  215. 
Poem  upon  the  Death  of  .  .  .  Queen 

Anne  and  the  .  .  .  Accession  of 

.  .  .  King  George:   15,  60,  iom., 

183,  216. 


226 


Poems  in  Burlesque:  15,  19,  20,  no, 
129,  213. 

Poetical  Register,  the:  43,  i7in., 
192. 

Poetic  justice:  162-167. 

Poetics,  Aristotle's:   162. 

Political  Union,  the :  47. 

Pope,  Alexander:  10,  12,  i6n.,  i8n., 
ign.,  28n.,  35,  43,  45,  52,  55,  68- 
70,  86-100,  10311.,  105-106,  108, 
i  lo,  113,  114,  119,  127,  144,  14811., 
184,  185,  197,  199,  202,  203,  20411., 

209,    2IO,    211. 

Pope  Alexander's  Supremacy:  96, 
97. 

Popiad,  the:  98. 

Popular  Fallacies:   17711. 

Porter,  Mrs.  Mary:  41,  42. 

Powell,  George:  41. 

Priestcraft  dangerous  to  Religion: 
see  Danger  of  Priestcraft,  etc. 

Priestcraft  distinguish' d  from  Chris- 
tianity:  ioin.,  216. 

Prince  Arthur:  9,  25,  109,  14711., 
1 60,  207. 

Prior,  Matthew:  13,  15,  i6n.,  3611., 
64. 

Prologue  to  Amintas :  2oin.,  214. 

Prologue  .  .  .  for  Julius  Caesar:  37, 
215. 

Prologue  to  the  Satires:  86. 

Propitiatory  Sacrifice,  etc. :  18211. 

Proposal  for  Putting  a'  Speedy  End 
to  the  War:  48-49,  ioin.,  215. 

Proposal,  prefatory  to  the  Grounds 
of  Criticism:  12 on. 

Proposals  for  printing  .  .  .  Miscel- 
laneous Tracts:  12,  72,  19311.,  207, 
217. 

Proposals  for  printing  .  .  .  the  Select 
Works  of  Mr.  Dennis:  101,  102, 
216. 

Provoked  Husband,  the:   106. 

Psalms,  the:  180. 

Purcell,  Daniel :  44,  82n. 

Purcell,  Henry :  25. 


Puttenham,  George:  121. 

Racine:  25,  26,  28,   109,  127,  i55n., 

173,  174,  175,  i9S. 
Ralph,  James :  i47n. 
Rapin :  13,  109,  112,  115,  116,  n7n., 

121,     130,    134,    142,    147,    i48n., 

iSSn.,   163,    167,    168,    i72n.,    175, 

178,  180. 

Rationalism:   118-120,   148-149. 
Redemption,  the :   205. 
Reed,  Isaac :  ioin. 
Reflections  on  Aristotle:  nyn. 
Reflections  upon  ...  an  Essay  on 

Criticism:   45,   58,   86,   87-89,   90, 

97,    non.,   127,    159,    i62n.,    i8in., 

185,  198,  216. 
Rehearsal,  the:  119. 
Remarks  of  a  School  boy :  78. 
Remarks    on    Prince    Arthur:    6n., 

23n.,  28-29,   109,   i32n.,   133,   139, 

158,  160,  161,  169,  i96n.,  198,  213. 
Remarks    on    .    .    .    the    Conscious 

Lovers:    72,    83,    non.,    143,    159, 

171,  217. 
Remarks  on  .  .  .   the  Rape  of  the 

Lock:  70,  95,  113,  ii9n.,  161,  177, 

185,  218. 
Remarks    upon    Cato:    67,    71,    113, 

i5on.,  173,  i78n.,  i97n.,  198,  208, 

216. 
Remarks    upon    Fresnoy's    Art     of 

Painting:  130. 
Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Homer: 

3n.,  70,  8sn.,  gon.,  92-93,  94,  113. 
Remarks   upon    the   Dunciad:    86n., 

9on.,  92n.,  95n.,  97,  100,  113,  194, 

218. 

Rhetoric,  Aristotle's:  130,  i4in. 
Rich,  John :   104. 
Richardson,  Samuel:  107. 
Rinaldo    and   Armida:    24-25,    102, 

173,  214. 
Roberts,  Wm. :  43,  gon.,  io5n.,  106, 

211. 

Roper,  Abel :  85n. 


227 


Rosamond,  52. 

Roscomraon,  Wentworth  Dillon,  Earl 
of:  23n.,  33,  3811.,  8311.,  118,  12311., 
147,  182,  19311.,  196. 

Rowe,  Nicholas:  s8n.,  71,  122,  20511. 

Rules,  the:  114-118;  Dennis's  atti- 
tude toward,  146-152. 

Rymer,  Thos. :  8,  9,  13,  isn.,  27,  53, 

63,  109,  in,  115,  ii7n.,  118,  119, 
126,   127,   130,  141,   147,   151,  154, 
i55n.,    163,    168,    174,    178,    i8in., 
183,  i86n.,  188,  190,  211. 

Sacheverell,  Henry :  47. 

St.    fivremond:    109,    H7n.,    iign., 

124,  125,  129,  137,  138,  154,  155, 

169,  i7in.,  189. 
Saintsbury,     Professor    George :     9, 

140,  142,  185,  198,  211. 
Satire  aginst  Wit:  29,  72. 
Satires,  Pope's:  100. 
Savage,     Richard:     in.,    98,     iO3n., 

iosn. 

Scaliger:  i47n.,  158. 
Seamen's  Case,  the:  46,  214. 
Scarborough,        Richard        Lumley, 

second  Earl  of:  57. 
Scarron :  20,  no,  177. 
Sedley,  Sir  Chas. :  39n. 
Select  Works:  8n.,  i2n.,  38,  43,  44, 

54,  75,  101,  102,  i4in.,  216. 
Selvaggi :  190. 
Seventeenth     Century     Notices     of 

Milton:  i82n. 
Settle,  Elkanah:  3n. 
Seymour,  Lord  Francis :  2,  4. 
Shadwell,  Thos. :  83n.,  gon.,  196. 
Shaftsbury,  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper, 

Earl  of:  7,  109,  123,  125,  137,  158, 

176,  203,  205. 
Shakspere,  Wm. :  37,  38-39,  43,  63, 

64,  75,   83n.,    102,    112,    127,    131, 
145,  166,  174,  i84n.,  186-188,189, 
I92n.,  200. 

Shepherd,  Fleetwood:  6n.,  15,  19, 
56n. 


Shortest   Way  with   the  Dissenters, 

the:  48. 
Short  View  of  the  Immorality  .  .  . 

of  the  English  Stage,  A  :  9,  30. 
Short  View  of  Tragedy,  A:   9,  27, 

28,  151,  issn.,  i67n.,  174,  i86n. 
Sidney,    Sir   Philip:    115,    121,    128, 

172. 

Silent  Woman,  the:  189. 
Sir  Fopling  Flutter:  see  the  Man  of 

Mode. 
Sir  Richard  Steele  .  .  .  vindicated: 

83. 

Slater,  Samuel:  190. 
Some  Account  of  the  English  Stage  : 

37n. 

Somers,  Lord  John:  sin. 
Song—  Till    death    I    Sylvia    shall 

adore:  38,  216. 
Sophocles:  non.,  186,  187. 
Southerne,  Thos.:  13-14,  41. 
Southey,  Robert:  107. 
Spanish  Friar,  the:  163,  195. 
Spectator,  the  :  3on.,  52n.,  65,  66,  67, 

70,   71,   74,  81,  89,   122,   165,   166, 

178,  205. 
Spenser,    Edmund:    123,    137,    185, 


Spingarn,  Professor  J.  E.  :  107,  114, 
115,  n8n.,  I23n.,  162,  190. 

Sprat,  Thos.,  Bishop  of  Rochester  : 
8n.,  155- 

Stage  Defended,  the:  64,  n6n., 
i67n.,  218. 

State  of  the  Case,  the:  7gn. 

State  of  the  Case  .  .  .  restated,  the  : 
Son. 

Statius  :  non. 

Squire  of  Alsatia,  the:  gon. 

Steele,  Sir  Richard:  n,  33,  35,  43, 
44,  52,  55,  57,  58,  59,  60,  66,  68, 
69,  71-84,  97,  113,  i2in.,  122, 
i28n.,  144,  168,  170,  i7in.,  183, 
203,  2osn.,  210,  211. 

Sternhold,  Thomas:  180. 


228 


Story    of   Orpheus  Burlesqu'd,   the : 

20. 

Strabo :  120. 
Stratham,  George :  42. 
Sunderland,    Robert    Spenser,    Earl 

of:  15,  33- 
Swift,  Jonathan:   33n.,  4in.,  46,  52, 

53,   60,    73,   84-85,   94. 
Swinburne,  A.  C. :  46,  in,  211. 

Tale  of  a  Tub,  the:  53. 

Talfourd,  Sir  T.  N. :  211. 

Tasso  :  25,  51,  137,  igon. 

Taste,  the  school  of:  123-126;  Den- 
nis and  this  school,  152-158. 

Tate,  Nahum :  sgn. 

Tatler,  the:  52n.,  71,  74,  i2in., 
i28n.,  205. 

Te  Deum:  38. 

Temple,  Sir  William:  123,  125,  132, 

151,     155,    202n. 

Temple  of  Fame,  the :  gon.,  92. 
Tenth  Ode  of  the  Second  Book  of 

Horace,  the :  213. 
Terrence:  83,  non.,  156. 
Thackeray,  W.  M. :  211. 
Theatre,  the :  78n.,  79. 
Theobald,    Lewis:    57,    6sn.,    91-92, 

93,  97,  99,  203. 
Thomson,    James:    io3n.,    105,    169, 

i8in.,  205n.,  2o6n. 
Third  Miscellany :  g,  66. 
Thoughts  on   Various  Subjects:  85. 
Three  Hours  after  Marriage:  89,  91, 

93,  204n. 

Timber  or  Discoveries:    i32n.,    188. 
To  Mr.  Dryden,  etc. :  9. 
To    Mr.    T.    S.    in    Vindication    of 

.  .  .  Paradise  Lost:  191. 
Tonson,  Jacob:  94n.,   127,   190,   195. 
To  Sylvia:  213. 
Touchstone,  the:   i47n. 
Tragedies  of   the  Last  Age:    I54n., 

i8m. 

Tragedy:   167-170. 
Tragedy  of  Tragedies:  82n.,  118. 


Traite  du  Poeme  Epique:    159-160. 

Treatise  concerning  the  State  of  De- 
parted Souls:  57,  104,  218. 

Troilus  and  Cressida:   163. 

True  Character  of  Mr.  Pope,  the: 
69,  89-91,  216. 

Unities,   dramatic:    172-175. 

Upon   our   Victory   at  Sea:    15,    19, 

xoin.,  213. 
Upon      the      first      publishing      the 

Guardians:  74. 
Upon  the  Fleet  then  fitting  out:   3, 

213. 

Uranie :  138. 
Usefulness   of    the   Stage,   the:    30, 

103,  155,  214. 

Vauquelin :  138. 

Vergil:  29,  gon.,  no,  116,  127,  131, 

141,   149,  178,   190,   193,   194,  207. 
Verses  to  a  Painter:  213. 
Verses  written  on  the  Death  of  Mr. 

Dennis:    106. 
Versification:      177;      blank     verse, 

181-185. 

Vice  and  Luxury:  62,  137,  218. 
Victor  Benj.:  82,  202n.,  2O3n. 
Vindication    of   Love   in    Tragedies, 

A:   13,  169. 
Voiture :  ion.,  18,  19,  107,  124,  156, 

179. 

Volpone:  162,  172,  189. 
Voltaire:  4,  169,  i8in.,  210. 
Vossius :   112,   129. 

Waller,    Edmund:    83n.,     121,     181, 

184,  196,  2osn. 

Walpole,  Horace,  Baron :  56n.,  s8n. 
Walpole,    Horace,    Earl   of   Oxford: 

2o8n. 
Walpole,    Robert,    Earl    of    Oxford: 

i4n. 

Walsh,  William:  sin. 
Warburton,  William :  7on. 
Weaver,  John :  44n. 


229 


Weekly  Packet,  the:  5911. 
What-d'-ye-C all-It:  89,  158. 
Wilkinson,  F. :   103. 
William  III :   14,  22,  33,  36. 
Wilmington,  Spencer  Compton,  Earl 

of:  99. 

Wilson,  Chas.   [Oldmixon?]:   u. 
Winchilsea,    Anne    Finch,    Countess 

of:  21,  22n.,  sin.,  91,  204n. 
Windsor  Forest:  gon.,  92. 


Winstanley,  John :  190. 
Wollaston,  Wm. :  i82n.,  190. 
Wordsworth,  Wm. :  200,  206. 
Works,  Dennis's :  see  Select  Works. 
Works,  Hobbes's:  igSn. 
Works  of  Alexander  Pope :  2 ion. 
Wycherley,  Wm. :  10,  11-13,  *S,  I7, 

i8n.,  ign.,  33,  ssn.,  64,  83n.,  ioin., 

102,  170,  i7in.,  196. 


VITA 

The  author  was  born  at  New  Orleans,  October  24,  1874. 
He  was  graduated  from  the  University  of  Michigan  in  1897 
and  for  three  years  was  principal  of  the  Escanaba,  Michigan, 
High  School.  He  then  studied  for  five  quarters  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago,  receiving  the  degree  of  A.M.  in  1901. 
From  1901  to  1904  he  was  an  instructor  in  English  at  the 
University  of  Illinois.  During  the  school  years  1904—1905  and 
1907-1908  he  studied  at  Columbia  University,  taking  courses 
with  Professors  Carpenter,  Matthews,  Trent,  Baker,  and 
Thorndike.  Since  1905  he  has  been  Assistant  Professor  of 
English  Language  and  Literature  at  the  University  of  Illinois. 


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